The girl from Atoka, Oklahoma
by McLance
Summary: When Guthrie falls in love for the first time, he and Harlie don't see eye to eye about things, and their close relationship suffers.
1. Chapter 1

You know how when a person is super tall, people think it's funny to ask them, 'hey, how's the weather

up there?'

Or if they're a blond, somebody trying to be a comedian will always ask them,

"do blondes really have more fun?", like in that hair color commercial.

Well, I'm not all that tall, and I'm not a blonde, but I have been asked a couple

of the same questions over and over my whole entire life.

Having seven brothers, all older than you are, is not all that common of an

occurrence, and it seems to fascinate some people. They want to know what it's

like, being the only girl, in a family of guys. Or they want to know if it's fun having so

many brothers. Lots of questions like that. But the main question, the one that

I'm asked the most, and the one that drives me crazy, is this:

"Harlie, which brother is your favorite one?"

Gahhh!

When I was really little, and people would ask me that, I'd say whatever name

popped in my head first, or I'd name the brother who I happened to be with at the

time, or the one who'd just bought me an ice cream cone. People would smile or laugh and

rub my head like I'd just said something amazingly funny, but I really had no idea

what they meant by favorite. I remember when I was about five, I asked Brian, who

I happened to be with at the hardware store at the time, what Mr. Pointer meant

when he asked me that.

Brian just laughed, and told me to just say "Brian" to everyone that asked that question.

When I was about nine, and I wised up to Brian's trick, I became the little

diplomat, and I would say, "I love them all the same," to whoever asked. Since I thought

I was being very grownup by that statement, I couldn't understand why people still

laughed, as though I'd said something amusing.

They would look at Adam, or Crane, or whoever I happened to be with, and say,

"She knows where her bread is buttered, doesn't she?"

I didn't know what THAT meant, either, and when I announced shortly thereafter that

bread should be buttered at the table, I remember all of them laughing and hooting

at me, except for Guthrie, who at ten, also was puzzled.

Anyway, people still ask me that same question now. I've grown to dislike it

immensely. If I'm feeling polite at the moment, I'll generally say,

"They're all terrific," or something like that.

Which they are. All terrific, I mean. Each of them, in their own way, is

very special. And I like spending time with all of them. But I guess, if I

was actually, factually going to put it out there, I'd have to say it was Guthrie. Who's

my favorite, I mean.

Guthrie and I, at the tail end of the family like we are, and only eleven months

apart in age, well, we have alot of the same life experiences. We're the only two

who only know our parents thru stories and photographs. The others all

have real memories that they can pull out and cherish. Guthrie and I grew up

knowing family as a herd of older brothers, protecting and caring for us, and

since we're so close in age, too, we always had one another to play with.

As we've gotten older, we didn't grow apart like some teenage siblings do.

We don't argue much, and if we do, it's mild, and doesn't really amount to much. I think

the reason we don't really argue and fuss is because we really, genuinely like each

other. I mean, I think Guthrie is one of the nicest people I've ever known, and I've

always thought he felt the same about me.

Life is all about change, is what people say. Well, I want to go on record as

saying that I'm not all that crazy about change. At least not the kind of change

that affects me in an adverse way.

And one day, adverse rode into Murphys in a big way, in the person of Megan

Vaughn. Megan is a nice name. I think a more apt name for this particular girl

would have been Grizelda or Drucilla, or something like that. A name that would

have given a warning about what kind of a person she is.

The new school year was up and running. I was in tenth and Guthrie was in

eleventh. We'd been riding to and from school with Ford for the last couple of years,

but Guthrie had been saving his money for two years, and with a little financial

help from Adam, he'd bought himself a truck which was, as he liked to say,

"the sweetest ride at Bret Hart Union High".

I liked the truck, too, and I only had to pester Guthrie a few times before he let

me drive it, which in itself, speaks of what sort of brother he is. Or was.

7777777

Anyway, it was the second week of school, and as is usually the case in our school,

there were a few new kids. Every year it seems like there are some. Crane says it's

because sometimes big city people want to move to Angels Camp or Murphys to live what they

believe is going to be 'the simple life.'

Megan Vaughn was one of the new students. She was in the tenth grade, too,

like me. I'd seen her around the halls, but I hadn't actually talked to her, until one

day at lunchtime when I was sitting outside in the sun with my friends, Kyla and Lori.

"There's the new girl," Kyla said.

When Lori and I looked, Megan was headed our direction.

"Should we ask her to sit with us?" Lori asked.

Kyla and I both said it was fine with us, and when Megan walked past,

Lori stopped her, and invited her to sit with us.

I knew Megan was pretty. Beautiful, even. That was obvious to anybody who

saw her. But now, close up, I could see that those words didn't do her justice.

She was flat-out gorgeous. She had blue eyes, with long eyelashes, and long, black, straight

hair. She had one of those willowly figures, and the kind of perfectly straight teeth that

dentists use in their advertisements.

7

When Lori stopped Megan, she introduced herself, and then Kyla, and then me.

Kyla and I both said hi, and Megan nodded at us.

"Hello," she said.

"You can sit with us, if you want," Lori invited.

"Well, that's just as nice as can be," Megan said, in an unmistakable Southern accent. "But

I believe I'm sitting with some of the fellows." She smiled what I considered to be

a majorly fake smile, and passed on by.

The three of us looked at one another.

"That was rude," Lori said.

"Really rude," I agreed.

"Maybe she didn't mean it that way," Kyla pointed out.

Lori's eyes darkened as we watched Megan pass by the table where Trent Mitchell was

sitting with his friends. Trent and Lori have been dating for a couple of months and Lori

really likes him. Megan ran her fingers along Trent's shoulder as she walked by, and Trent

watched her, looking dazed.

"I'm sorry I asked her to sit with us," Lori said hotly.

"Maybe she doesn't know he's your boyfriend," Kyla said.

Lori gathered up the remnants of her uneaten lunch and stood up, tossing it in the

trash can nearby. "It doesn't matter," she said. "See you later."

As she walked away, I said quietly to Kyla, "She knows Lori is dating Trent. I heard

someone tell her in study hall this morning."

"Oh."

Kyla and I sat there a few minutes longer, watching as Megan moved from one table

full of boys to another equally male-dominated table. I paid close attention to that move

on her part, since Guthrie happened to be sitting at that table. I was pleased and happy

that I didn't see any extreme interaction between Megan and Guthrie.

I didn't really think anything more about Megan until a couple of days later, when

I saw Lori, crying at her locker.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I think Trent wants to break up," she said thru her tears.

"Why do you think that?"

"Some of the girls said he was at Butch's Place last night and Megan was there, too!"

Butch's Place is pretty much the hangout for the teenagers in Murphys. He won't serve underage alcohol but he makes the best cheeseburgers in town. Some couples go there to dance to the old jukebox, or you can play darts and pool.

"Maybe she just happened to be there, too," I said, trying to make her feel better.

"The girls said they were playing pool, and they were hugging on each other!"

"Oh," I said cautiously, not sure how to answer.

"I tried to talk to him this morning and he brushed me off!"

Lori gave me a sorrowful look. "Will you ask Guthrie to ask Trent about it?"

Since Guthrie and Trent are pretty good friends, I guess Lori assumed that was a logical thing to do. But I didn't want to do it. Since Lori doesn't have brothers, she really doesn't understand these things. But I knew Guthrie wouldn't want to ask Trent about it, or get involved in any way. Guys just don't operate that way.

But Lori looked so pitiful, and sad, standing there, and with her being my best friend at school, well, I just couldn't tell her No.

"Okay, I'll try," I agreed.

I paid more attention to Megan in the halls the rest of the day. She was a big flirt, that was for sure. She seemed to flit from one guy to another, giving them all a dose of her Southern charm. She was trouble with a capital T, I surmised.

After school when Guthrie and I met up at his truck to go home, I had a Milky Way candy bar that I'd gotten from the school vending machine. I handed it to him, and he took it with the enthusiasm of a starving teenage boy.

"Hey, thanks!"

"You're welcome."

We were driving along, Guthrie driving one-handed, holding his candy bar in the other hand.

"Did you talk to Trent today?" I asked casually.

"Yeah."

"How's he doing?"

"He's okay."

"Does he still like Lori?"

Guthrie chewed the rest of his candy bar, and shot me a funny look.

"I guess. Why?"

"Well, Lori was wondering. I guess Trent ignored her today."

When Guthrie didn't say anything, I pressed on. "Lori was actually wondering if you would talk to him. Ask him if he still wants to go out with her, and stuff."

Guthrie shook his head. "I don't want to do that. That's dumb."

"I know. It's just, Lori was so upset, and she is my best friend-"

"I don't want to, Har."

"You like Lori, don't you?" I asked, playing the guilt card.

"Sure, I like her. She's a good kid. But I'm not gonna ask Trent anything."

I recognized the wall of McFadden stubbornness. And it wasn't like I'd really expected Guthrie

to agree, anyway. I'd been fairly certain what his answer would be before I'd even

asked.

We were almost home when I said, "You know the new girl?"

"Which one?"

"The one in tenth. Megan. Black hair. Kind of skinny."

"What about her?"

"What do all the guys think of her?"

Guthrie shrugged.

"I know how guys talk, Guthrie. And a girl that looks like that? Come on."

"Well, they think she's real good looking."

"Are any of the guys thinking of asking her out soon?"

Guthrie shrugged again, and pulled up beside our old Jeep.

"Well, I hope she leaves Trent alone," I said darkly. "Lori's real worried."

If I'd known then what I was to know very soon after, I would have been

worried about a certain boy a lot closer to me than Trent Mitchell.

7777777


	2. Beauty is only skin deep

A few days passed by, and Trent did break up with Lori. He told her he wanted to date other people. Which, by saying 'other people' he actually meant Megan.

Lori put on a brave face, but I knew she was devastated. To make the whole thing even

worse, Trent did it at school, between classes, and then sat with Megan at lunch.

On the way home from school that day, I was ranting about it to Guthrie. He was,

as usual, munching on the candy bar I always buy him before the ride home.

"Trent's a snake," I said, and when Guthrie was silent, I gave his arm a poke.

"Right?"

"I don't know what happened with Trent and Lori," he said mildly. "So I can't say if he's a snake."

"Haven't you been listening?" I said impatiently. "He broke up with Lori, who's one

of the nicest girls at school, to date that 'Okie from Muskogee'!"

"She's actually from Atoka, Oklahoma," Guthrie corrected. "Not Muskogee."

" I know that," I informed him. " I was being sarcastic. How do you know

where she's from, anyway? "

Guthrie shrugged, and crumpled up his candy bar wrapper, tossing it at my head.

"I don't know. I guess I heard it somewhere."

"Hmm," I said, looking at him suspiciously.

7777777

When we got home and went into the house, Guthrie and I found Hannah

lying down on the couch, reading a Good Housekeeping magazine. She put

it down on the table beside the couch when we came in.

"Hello, you two," she said, smiling.

Guthrie immediately went to stand beside the couch, looking worried.

"Are you feeling okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine."

"Well," he said, looking down at her consideringly. "I just meant, you're laying down

and all-"

"Why do people usually lie down?" Hannah said. "Because they're tired, silly."

Hannah is right about at her five month mark in her pregnancy. The entire

family breathed a lot easier when her first trimester was over. Even though

Hannah's doctor and Clare both are confident that Hannah is out of the danger

zone, where she might lose the baby, Guthrie refuses to relax.

Hannah sat up and reached out for Guthrie's hand. "I'm absolutely fine, hotshot.

Just resting a little before I fix supper. There's cookies on the table in case

you're interested."

"I'm interested," Guthrie said, and ambled off toward the kitchen, in his long-legged

stride.

"He walks and talks more like Adam every day," Hannah said. "How are you?" she

asked, turning her attention to me.

I sat down beside Hannah and told her the latest about Lori and Trent, and Megan.

"I'm sorry about Lori feeling badly," Hannah said.

"I'd like to punch Trent in the nose," I said with fervor.

"Well, let's try to avoid that, alright?" Hannah cautioned me.

"I'll try, but I can't make any promises," I said lightly.

7

Trent's romantic interlude with Megan didn't last long. She dated him a couple times that

week, and then moved on to Darren Ramsey and Huck LaRance, both at the same time.

Since neither one of them were dating any of my friends, it was interesting to watch

in a way, although I was still disgusted by the way she kept all the boys hanging on.

Watching Megan at lunch one day, as she flitted around like a butterfly, bestowing

her smiles on all the guys, Kyla said, "Wow. She's really something."

"She's something alright," Chelsea said, "but I'm too polite to say what it is."

We all laughed, except for Lori, who said darkly, "Well, I'm not too polite. She's a bitch."

"Any progress with Trent?" I asked her.

"He called me last night, and he talked to me this morning before first hour. I guess

he's sorry."

I hoped that things would work out between Trent and Lori. I guessed that if Lori

could forgive him for breaking her heart, then it wasn't up to me to say any different.

7777777

One day the next week I was leaning against Guthrie's truck after school, waiting for

him. I was reading 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn', which Mrs. Horn had assigned as required

reading in English. I was pretty intent on my reading, and I kind of jumped when

a sugary, Southern drawl spoke.

"Hello there."

When I saw Megan standing there, I was so startled that at first I didn't answer.

"You're Harlie, right?"

A month into school and she acted like she wasn't sure about my name? I mean,

seriously, our school's not that big.

"Right," I said shortly, wondering what she wanted.

"I'm Megan," she said unnecessarily.

"I know."

"Guthrie's your brother, isn't he?"

I eyed her suspiciously. "Uh huh."

"I thought so," she drawled. "Well, Guthrie's just been so kind to me since I moved

here."

I could feel the first inklings of trouble coming.

"Oh, really?"

"Oh, yes! Just an honest to goodness gentleman, that's what he is!"

"Yeah, Guthrie's nice like that. Of course Guthrie's nice to just about everybody," I

told her, with a warning in my voice if she cared to listen.

Apparently, she chose not to listen, because she said, "Oh, I'll bet he is! But he just

makes a girl feel so special when he talks to her."

I gave Megan a once-over, and decided to let her know at the upfront that

I knew her tricks.

"Did Trent make you feel like that, too? And Huck? And I've heard Darren can be a real charmer."

Any remnants of Megan's fake smile faded away and her eyes fastened on me

with a hard glare.

"It's different with Guthrie," she said. "I really like him. And I think he feels the same way."

I wanted to tell her that Guthrie had more sense than to be taken in by a fake

piece of Southern fluff like her, but before I could, Guthrie walked up. He did not look

unhappy to see Megan standing there. He even had a grin on his face.

"Hey," he said, in greeting.

"Hello, Guthrie," Megan said sweetly, with her smile back in place.

"I've been waiting for you," Megan told him, as if she had a secret for him.

"You have, huh?" Guthrie asked, looking pleased.

"I wanted to ask if you know anybody around here that could look at my mother's

car. Being new in town, we don't know anybody that well, and I'd just hate

it if she got taken advantage of. Two females, all alone, you know what I mean."

I rolled my eyes, at the transparency of her request.

"What's wrong with your mom's car?" Guthrie asked.

I wanted to scream 'Nothing'!

"It makes this funny sound sometimes."

"What kind of sound?" Guthrie asked.

"Oh," Megan said, waving her hand, "kind of a clanking sound-"

"Maybe somebody tied a tin can to the bumper," I said sarcastically.

Guthrie gave me a puzzled look.

"Oh, Harlie, you're so funny," Megan said, and I knew she thought I was anything but funny.

"Yeah, and I don't even have to try," I said.

"Yeah, she probably ought to have her car looked at," Guthrie advised, and Megan

nodded as if Guthrie had said something infinitely wise.

"Jake Green is about the best mechanic around here," Guthrie continued.

"Oh. Alright. I'll tell my mother."

Megan gave me a look that told me quite plainly she wanted me to go somewhere

else, but I wasn't about to leave her alone with Guthrie, no matter how many daggers

she shot me with her eyes.

"Thanks a lot, Guthrie," Megan said, and gave him a wide smile. "I appreciate you telling

me about Jake."

"Sure. No problem."

"Anybody around here could have told you about Jake," I spoke up. "The gym teacher, the principal, Trent or Huck, anybody at all."

I thought I was making a valid point but Guthrie didn't look happy about it.

"Well, thank you," Megan drawled, giving Guthrie's shoulder a little rub. "I guess I'll see

you tomorrow."

Guthrie said goodbye, too, and we both got into the truck. He started the motor,

but he just sat there for a minute, watching Megan walk towards her bus.

I tapped my foot impatiently. "Let's go."

"Keep your shirt on," he told me.

When we were pulling out of the school parking lot, Guthrie said, kind of

quietly, "How come you're being mean to Megan?"

I looked at him, astounded. "Mean?!"

"Yeah. You were mean."

"I was only pointing out that she could have asked anybody-"

"And that crack about the tin can, what was up with that?"

"It wasn't even a real question. She's just making up something about her

mother's car."

"How do you know?"

I blinked at him. "What?"

"I said, 'how do you know'? Have you driven their car? Maybe there is something

making a noise."

"You don't seriously believe her, Guth!" I said incredulously.

"Whether I believe her or not isn't what I'm talking about."

. "No, you're only worried about the things I said!"

When he stared silently straight ahead, I reminded him, "Look what happened with

Trent and her! She went after him even though he was Lori's boyfriend!"

"So?" he shrugged. "They're back together, aren't they?"

"Only because Lori forgave his stupid ass!"

Guthrie gave me a look, and said, "Let's just drop it."

"Fine with me!" I said, and the rest of the ride home was accomplished in silence.

When we got home we both went to change into our chore clothes, but when

When Hannah offered after school snacks as usual, I shook my head and went

on out to the barn. I didn't feel like sitting next to Guthrie right then.

"What's new at the institution of lower learning?" Evan greeted me with his

usual joke about school.

"Nothing much."

"How's old lady Carston this year?"

"She retired."

"About damn time."

"Yeah."

I went to where the chicken feed is kept and started scooping it into a bucket.

Evan wandered over to me, pulling off his gloves.

"You seem like you're down," he said.

"A little bit," I admitted.

"You want to talk about it?"

I have to hand it to Evan. Since Daniel's been gone the last month, and Ford's

at college, Evan's tried to be there for me.

I didn't really want to talk about Guthrie, but I was curious enough to get

Evan's outlook.

"If a girl's really pretty, is that all that matters to a guy? As long as she's

good looking, it doesn't matter if she's a fake and a liar?"

Evan looked at me consideringly. "It matters, Har, you know it does."

"Of course I know it! I'm asking if it matters to guys!"

"Well, I don't want to date a girl who's a fake."

"Even if she looks like a New York model?"

"Well-" Evan hesitated.

I could tell Evan didn't know whether to feed me a line, or be honest with me.

"Never mind," I said. "I can tell by the look on your face that the answer is guys don't care WHAT a

girl is, as long as she looks great."

"That's not totally true. It's a fact most guys are more quick to overlook faults in a girl if

she's pretty and all. But it won't generally last long if her true color is fake."

"Really?"

"Sure."

There was a chance that Guthrie was just being friendly to Megan, and wouldn't fall

victim to her charm, but I thought it was a slim chance. In that case, I hoped Evan was

right. If Guthrie did become infatuated with Megan, I hoped he'd soon see she was about as

real as an aluminum Christmas tree.

7777777


	3. Changes

Guthrie and I didn't have a whole lot to say to each other the rest of the

evening.

I was coming out of the bathroom after my shower, and Guthrie was waiting

to take his turn. He gave me a slow smile. "Hey. Did we have an argument earlier?"

I rubbed my wet hair with my towel. "I think so," I said, smiling back at him.

"G'night, hyena," he said, going on into the bathroom.

"Goodnight, elephant ears," I said, and went smiling into my room.

7777777

At breakfast one morning later in the week, Adam asked me, and then Guthrie,

if we had anything after school to do that would make us late getting home.

"I don't," I said.

Guthrie shook his head. "Not that I know of."

"I'm going with Hannah to Modesto to the doctor, and Doc G's coming

to vaccinate the calves," Adam said. "If you two are here with Brian and Crane, it'll help out."

"Okay," Guthrie said, and I nodded my agreement.

After school, even though I hurried, Guthrie beat me to the truck. He was already in, and had the

engine running, and the radio playing.

"Hey, Speedy Gonzalez," I teased him, thru his open window.

That was when I saw her. HER. Evil personified. Sitting in my seat in the truck.

I just stood there, stunned, and Guthrie said, "Come on, let's go."

I went around to my side and opened the door. I held it open and stepped elaborately out

of the way, so Megan would get the hint, and get going.

"Bye, Megan," I said pointedly.

"We're givin' Megan a ride home," Guthrie said.

"WE?"

"I am," he clarified. "Let's go."

"We have calves to vaccinate, remember? Adam said to hurry home?"

"We'll make it," Guthrie said, in an unconcerned manner.

"Uh, Guthrie," I raised my eyebrow at him. " Seriously, Brian is going to

be really mad, and Adam-"

"Harlie," Guthrie said, giving me an irritated look, "it's FINE. Come on."

Well, what could I do, after all? I climbed in, but I could feel my temper

boiling.

Megan, who had been watching our entire conversation with a small smile,

gave me a sidelong triumphant smirk.

"It's so nice of y'all," she said.

I didn't trust myself to respond to that. I focused my attention out the

window, while Megan didn't shut up once, chattering on and on about

Oklahoma.

"Have you ever been there?" she asked Guthrie. When he said no, she

spent the rest of the time telling him how he absolutely had to find the

opportunity to get there.

"Maybe I will, sometime," Guthrie said, and I rolled my eyes heavenward.

"Holy crap," I muttered, in exasperation.

"Did you say something, Harlie?" Megan asked, her voice sugary.

"Me? Nope, I didn't say a word."

When we pulled up in front of Megan's house, it turned out to be one of the really

small houses in the south end of Murphys.

Guthrie got out, and Megan slid out gracefully after him. She made a show

of straightening her short skirt.

I heard her murmering her thank you's, and caught the word, 'lifesaver'.

When Guthrie was back in, and driving, we got to the railroad tracks

just as the arms went down.

Great, now we had to wait on a train!

I groaned.

"So we have to wait on a train," Guthrie said. "So what?"

I stared pointedly out the window, refusing to answer.

"So now you're pissed?" Guthrie asked, after a couple of minutes. "How come?"

"Because I don't want to get yelled at for being late! That's how come!"

"We're not gonna be all that late."

"Well, why do we have to be late at all? Why'd she have to have a ride home?"

"She just needed one, alright?"

I turned to look at Guthrie as the train arms raised.

"What's going on, Guthrie?"

Guthrie didn't pretend to misunderstand.

"I like her," he said.

"Okay, but Guth, she's a user!"

"No, she's not."

"Look how many guys she's dated just since she's been here!"

"That doesn't make her a bad person."

"None of the girls like her!"

"So? Maybe they're just jealous because she's so pretty."

I twisted in the seat until I was almost facing him.

"Forget the other girls then," I said. "I don't like her, Guth!"

"Maybe if you tried to get to know her better-"

"No," I interrupted him. "No, no, no. I know her as well as I want to know her."

For a long moment he didn't say anything, and when he did, I felt the first wave

of panic rise over me. It was like the feeling that I think a drowning person would have when they

went under the water for the first time.

"That's too bad," he said quietly. "Cause I'm going to keep on dating her."

"Keep dating her? You mean, you already are?"

"Yeah. The other night after supper when I went to the store for Hannah? I was

gone so long cause Megan and I went to Butch's Place, and we decided to start dating."

"You didn't decide anything," I corrected him. "She decided. Just like she decided about Trent, and Huck, and Darren. And Lonnie Johnston."

"It's not the same thing," Guthrie denied.

"How do you know?"

"Because I know, alright? I know."

I looked at him, feeling helpless.

"It's my choice, Harlie."

"It sure is," I said, and again we finished the ride home in silence.

7=love

Brian was not happy about us being late. He started hollaring the

second we got out of the truck. He motioned us over to the pen set up

in the corral.

"Where have you two been?" he demanded.

"Got held up by a train," Guthrie said.

Crane wiped the back of his hand across his forehead, and joined Brian in

studying us.

"Between here and school?" he asked, quizzically, knowing there

was no railroad crossing between our house and school.

"Had to give somebody a ride," Guthrie said, and when Brian started huffing

and puffing, Guthrie shrugged. "Sorry, Bri," he said lightly. "Where do you

want me at?"

Brian told Guthrie to help hold the struggling calves, and told me to help

Crane give the range cubes to the mama cows, distraught at their bawling babies

being separated from them.

I climbed up in the Jeep and stood up, holding onto the roll bar,

as Crane pulled out into the pasture. Midway into the pasture, Crane pulled

to a stop, and I ripped open one of the sacks.

Crane reached over and picked it up, and shook some of the cubes into

three feeders. He came back, patting the cows swarming around him, and

handed me the empty sack.

He drove out further, more cows following us, and we distributed more

cubes.

After the last stop, Crane motioned to the seat beside him, and I slipped

under the roll bar, and crawled into my seat.

As we rode back to the house, Crane reached over and jiggled my

knee. "You alright?" he asked.

I looked at Crane and shrugged. "I'm okay. I didn't want to be late getting home, and

get into trouble."

"You're not in any trouble."

"Okay."

Crane was parking the Jeep, and Doc G was pulling into the driveway. Guthrie

and I looked at one another, and then away.

"Dumbass," I muttered.

Crane followed my line of sight, and said, "You want to tell me why Guthrie's

a dumbass?"

"No," I said, shaking my head.

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We had leftovers for supper that night, because we were all tired from

working the calves, and Hannah was tired after her doctor appointment.

Evan and Clare got home about the same time, and the house settled down for

the night.

7

The next afternoon was more of the same. When Guthrie met me at the truck where

I was waiting after school, he opened our conversation by announcing he was

going to wait for Megan and give her a ride home again.

"Is this going to be an everyday thing?" I asked, giving Guthrie a scathing glance.

"I don't know," Guthrie said carelessly. "Maybe."

"That's just great," I complained.

"It's my truck," Guthrie reminded me, unnecessarily.

"No kidding?" I said sarcastically. "It is? I didn't know that."

"You know what I mean. I can give her a ride if I want to."

"I never said you couldn't, did I? I know you can do whatever you want. But

I don't have to like it."

"Nope. You sure don't."

Megan was fast approaching us, and I took the opportunity to say something that

had been nagging at me since the afternoon before.

"And, just for your information, Guthrie James McFadden, I'm not jealous

of Megan for being beautiful."

I climbed haughtily into the truck and slammed the door, immersing myself

in my book, and trying to tune out their conversation, on the way home.

When Guthrie parked in front of Megan's house, he walked her to the

front door, where they exchanged a nauseatingly long kiss.

I groaned, and tried to return to my book again. After what seemed

like a really long time, I took another look, and they were still going at it.

"Just shoot me now," I muttered to myself.

After a few more minutes, I put down my book, and sat up straight, good

and aggravated.

I reached over and pushed on the horn, let off, and pushed it again.

"Knock it off!" Guthrie yelled at me.

He looked so mad that I didn't honk anymore. I figured I'd made my

point, anyway.

Guthrie came stomping over to the truck and got in, slamming the

door, and glaring at me.

"That was uncalled for!" he said.

"I thought it was called for."

"What is your problem, Harlie? You've never acted so jerky before."

"You've never acted so stupid before!"

"I wouldn't call you stupid if you were crazy about somebody like I am about Megan."

"The heck you wouldn't! You'd tell me exactly what you thought!"

Guthrie started driving then, and he turned up the radio, so neither one of us said anything else

until we drove in at home.

When Guthrie parked beside the Jeep and shut off the truck, we both just sat there for a few seconds

without saying anything.

"How come you hate Megan so much?" he asked.

"I don't hate her. I just think she's a user, always looking for the next guy who can do the most for her."

Guthrie turned to face me, running his thumb back and forth across the steering wheel.

"Why would she want to date me, then?" he pointed out. "What in the heck can I do for her?"

Truthfully, I had to admit I didn't know the answer to that. It's not like Guthrie has a lot of money, or comes

from a wealthy family or anything.

"Well, she's probably dating you because you're nice looking," I said.

Guthrie just stared at me, not answering.

"She'll move on to someone else soon, though, Guth. And then you'll be hurt."

"You don't know that she'll do that," he said.

"Remember when Daniel got mixed up with that Callie girl? And Brian tried to help so he wouldn't get hurt?"

"What in hell does that have to do with me?! And you have no business comparing Megan to Callie, anyway!

Or comparing me to Daniel! I'm my own person, Harlie!"

"I know, I just meant that I don't want to see you hurt!"

Guthrie opened the door and put one foot on the ground, then stared straight ahead, and said,

"If I get hurt, I get hurt. It's my business."

He turned to give me a long look. "You need to stop hassling me about it, Har, and stay out of my business.

I'm not kidding."

I felt like crying suddenly. "We always talk about stuff, and tell each other what we think, Guthrie!"

"Not about this. Not anymore." His voice was really quiet, but it was worse than if he'd been shouting at me.

I gathered up my books, and got out as fast as I was able to, walking to the house so he wouldn't see the tears

in my eyes.

Hannah was sitting on the couch, talking to Clare, and Evan and Crane were sitting there, too.

"We were beginning to wonder about you two," Hannah said.

"Where you been?" Crane asked.

I heard Guthrie's bootsteps behind me.

"Ask Guthrie," I said, and escaped up the stairs.

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	4. Pass on the pizza and pool

I went upstairs to change into my old clothes, and I didn't rush back down right

away. I wanted to make sure Guthrie had gone outside, and I needed a little while

to get myself together.

After I'd sat on my bed for a few minutes, I knew I couldn't put it off forever,

so I went slowly back downstairs. Crane was the only one still sitting in the living room.

He beckoned to me. "Come here a minute."

"I'm late on my chores," I said halfheartedly.

"A couple of more minutes won't make any difference."

I sighed and went to sit beside him on the couch.

"What?" I asked, irritably.

"Listen, you little crabapple, don't sound like it's such a chore to sit down

with me for a minute."

"I'm sorry, Crane. I didn't mean to sound that way."

"Okay, then." He tugged gently to pull me back, and wrapped his arm

around me. I leaned my head on his shoulder.

"I guess you want to know what's going on," I said.

"If you want to tell me."

"What did Guthrie say?"

"Just that he gave a girl a ride home."

"His girlfriend," I clarified.

"I figured."

"Guthrie and I had a fight."

"You've had scraps before."

"Not like this, though. This was different, Crane. This was-serious. Serious

and real."

"Give it a day or two. Likely it will blow over."

"I don't think so," I said doubtfully. "He's being really jerky."

Crane reached across and took hold of my hands, stopping me from twisting

them together.

"Have a little faith, peanut."

"Faith in what?"

"In Guthrie. In your relationship with him."

"I'll try," I said.

Many times after that, in the next few weeks, I was to remember Crane's

words. Have faith. Faith in the relationship I'd always had with Guthrie.

The problem with that was, the close and caring bond I'd always shared

with Guthrie was changing. It was changing so fast and so furiously that it

seemed the axis of my whole world was off-balance.

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Ford came home from college that weekend. He was going to a college close to home, in

Pleasant Hill, Ca., John F. Kennedy University, so he came home more often

than he would have otherwise.

I, for one, was perfectly happy with that arrangement. It would have suited

me just fine if he decided to stay close by the next three years of college, too.

I was helping Hannah water all the plants on the front porch when Ford's truck

turned into our long drive.

When he pulled to a stop, and got out, Hannah crooned, "Forrrd!" joyfully,

and moved amazingly fast for a pregnant lady, going to meet him,

wrapping her arms around him.

I waited until Hannah had had her chance to say hello first, and when they walked

arm in arm up to the porch, Hannah smiled at me.

"Your turn," she told me.

Ford looked at me, standing there on the top step.

"Hey, Har," he greeted me.

"Hey. It seems longer than two weeks since I've seen you."

"Yeah. You look pretty."

"You look pretty, too."

We grinned at each other, and then I basically jumped down the steps, and threw

myself on him.

"I've missed you," I said, hugging him fiercely around his neck.

"It's always nice to be missed," he said, lifting me off my feet, and then

standing me back on the top step.

"I'm starving," he said. " Come in with me. Tell me what's new around here."

I barely got out of the way as brothers burst thru the screen door to

grab Ford, slapping his back, and generally acting as if he'd just been rescued from

Gilligan's Island.

Everybody wanted a chance to spend time with Ford. Evan and Ford and Guthrie

decided to go to Butch's Place to get pizza and play pool. Usually I'm included in

the outings with the three of them, but this time when Evan told me to

hurry up, I shook my head.

"That's okay, Ev, you guys go on."

Evan squinted at me. "You're passing on pizza? Since when? Go get your boots on."

"I've got some stuff to do."

By this time, Ford was listening to our conversation.

"Come on, Har. I want a chance to reclaim my pride after you beat the socks

off of me last time we played pool," Ford coaxed.

"I was just lucky that night," I said, and I guess I sounded as forlorn as I felt, because

they both gave me the 'eye'. The one older brothers give you when they know

something's going on.

"What's wrong tonight?" Ford asked, putting a hand on my shoulder. "You've hardly

said a word."

"You guys should be happy about that," I said, with a halfhearted smile.

"Yeah, we should be," Evan agreed.

"Why don't you want to come with?" Ford asked.

Conscious of Guthrie within hearing distance, I just shrugged.

"Got stuff to do," I repeated. "Homework."

"On Friday night?" Evan said incredulously.

"It's not against the law, you know," I told him.

"Suit yourself," Evan said, and headed out, pulling Guthrie along with him.

Ford was still giving me that look. "I haven't even gotten to talk to you that much."

"I know. Maybe tomorrow? We could go riding or something."

"Yeah, okay. I'll see what Adam and Brian want me to do, and then we'll go. Alright?"

"Okay."

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I was doing my English homework in the living room later, and Adam was sitting

opposite me, reading the newspaper.

Hannah was tired, and had gone up to bed. Brian and Clare had went up to their

attic apartment, and Crane had gone out on a date with the pretty new librarian in town.

That left just Adam and I, and we were both quiet, intent on our own reading. After

awhile, I stood up and stretched my arms over my head, trying to work the kinks out of

my back. I went to the kitchen, and fixed a cup of cocoa for both of us, and

grabbed some oatmeal cookies, and put everything on a tray to carry.

"Want some?" I offered.

"Thanks," he said, and took one of the steaming cups, and a couple cookies.

"Sit here by me," Adam said, moving his newspaper out of the way.

We sat in companionable silence for a few minutes, and then Adam said,

"Why didn't you go along with the boys tonight?"

"I just didn't feel like going."

Adam gave me a questioning look.

"I think they wanted 'guy' time," I said.

"Harlie," Adam said, and I knew he didn't buy my excuses.

"Guthrie and I had an argument," I admitted. "I didn't think being around him

was a good idea."

"Oh."

"I didn't want to ruin Ford's weekend home. I'll spend time with him tomorrow. I think

we're going to go riding."

"So this argument with Guthrie, it's not over and done? It's still goin' on?"

"Yeah. Well, not really. I don't know, exactly. He's really mad, and so am I."

"What's it all about?"

I studied Adam. Years of Guthrie and I not tattling on each other is a hard habit to break.

"Do I have to tell you?" I asked.

"No. I guess not."

After a few minutes of quiet, I found myself opening up.

"It's about Guthrie's girlfriend. I don't like her. He thinks I should."

"Ah."

"Do all guys lose their minds when they're sixteen?"

Adam chuckled. "Pretty much."

"So what is it about this girl you don't like?" he asked.

"This is just between us, right?" I asked him.

"Right."

"She's new this year. She's went thru a bunch of guys at school already. She's

only nice to the boys. I tried to tell Guthrie she's a fake, and a user, but he won't listen."

"No, probably not."

"He told me not to talk about it to him anymore, and to stay out of his business."

"Well, this sounds like something Guthrie will have to figure out on his own."

"She's going to hurt him, Adam! I know she will, and his heart will be broken!"

Adam sighed. "That's going to be hard, watching him go thru that, but it's

part of growing up. Unfortunately." He put a hand at the back of my neck.

" Any chance she might really like Guthrie?"

"She might like him, but it won't last," I said, with pessimism. "And then she'll

move on. Probably to another one of Guthrie's friends."

"I know this isn't what you want to hear, but Guthrie has a right to choose his

own friends. Even if they're not a friend you would have liked for him."

I thought about that for a minute. What Adam said made good sense. But, still!

"Okay," I said. "But Guthrie got so jerky about it. He didn't have to be that way.

I was only trying to look out for him."

"Now you know how frustrated your brothers get with you, when they're trying

to keep you safe in a situation, and keep you from getting into trouble."

"How come this turned into a lecture for me?" I asked, a little miffed.

"I didn't intend for it to sound that way."

I sighed. "I know. And I do understand, Adam. But being on the outs with Guthrie

like this, it feels like-" I hesitated, trying to find the words, "like I'm in a boat without

a sail, just drifting."

"Ah, Harlie," Adam said, and pulled me into a tight hug. "I'm sorry you're hurting

over this. It's all gonna be alright, though."

"Promise?" I asked, my cheek against his chest. I knew I sounded like a little kid,

looking for reassurance, but I also knew Adam wouldn't mind.

"I promise." He spoke with certainty.

"Okay," I said, snuggling closer to him. Being cosseted like a little

girl again wasn't an unpleasant feeling.

We sat there, talking about the ranch, and the wild mustangs that had been

spotted up in the high country by neighbors. That's what we were doing when

the boys came home, laughing, and shoving each other around playfully.

"How was pizza?" Adam asked them.

"Great as usual. Nobody makes pizza like Butch," Evan said.

"Yep. It was great," Guthrie added. He sank down on the couch opposite Adam

and I.

"We beat the pants off Guthrie at pool," Evan said gleefully.

"Not hard to do when his mind wasn't on the game," Ford said dryly.

Guthrie shrugged, not looking concerned.

"Oh, well," he said.

"Why wasn't your mind on the game?" Adam asked.

"A certain black-haired beauty had his attention," Evan said, answering for

Guthrie.

I felt myself tense up at that.

"Yeah, we had to pry him loose from her like taffy stuck to the table," Ford volunteered.

"Good grief," I said. I shouldn't have said it. I know I shouldn't have. But honest to

goodness!

Guthrie gave me a measuring look.

"What's your problem?" he asked me.

"I don't have a problem," I said, stressing the word I.

"Meaning that I do?"

"I'd say so."

Guthrie leaned forward to glare at me.

"And what would that be, Miss Know It All?"

"You can't even spend an evening with Ford and Evan without her!"

"Alright, both of you, that's enough," Adam said. "Just stop now."

Ford was standing there, looking stunned, and Evan, sitting on the arm

of the couch, looked just as surprised at the angry exchange between me and Guthrie.

"Oh, Adam, come on," Guthrie said sarcastically. "Let Harlie tell me what decisions to

make. She seems to want to run my life."

I leaned forward, too. "I don't want to run your life," I said. "It's obvious you can drive

your own train off the tracks without any help from me!"

"I said that's enough!" Adam said sternly. "Not another word, either one of you." He

stood up.

"Both of you go to bed. And don't even think about starting up again. Hannah's

tired, and I don't want her bothered. You both clear on that?"

"Yes, sir. Clear," Guthrie said.

"Yes, Adam," I said.

"Then go to bed," Adam said, sounding mad. He looked mad, too. I sighed,

and trudged up the stairs to my room. I was in my pajamas, getting ready to climb

into bed, when there was a light tap on the door.

"Come in," I said.

Ford stuck his head in. " You okay?"

"I guess."

"Alot's been goin' on around here the last couple of weeks, it seems like, huh?"

"Yeah." I sighed.

"We still on for tomorrow? We could take some sandwiches and ride up

to the high country."

"Okay," I agreed.

"Okay. See you in the morning."

"Night, Ford."

"Night, Har."

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I heard Adam coming up the stairs later, and then I heard quiet voices in the hall.

Adam's voice, and then Guthrie's.

I slid under the blankets, feeling suddenly chilled, though it wasn't cold in my room.

7

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	5. Time with Ford

The next morning everybody was at the breakfast table, eating waffles that Clare

had made, and talking over the plans for the day.

As always, Hannah was to my left, and Guthrie to my right. I carefully avoided

looking at Guthrie, which was hard, but I did the best I could.

"Ford says you two are taking some food on your ride this morning," Hannah

said to me.

"Yeah, just some sandwiches, and fruit, or something."

"And cookies," Ford interjected, from his spot across the table.

"Cookies, hmm?" Hannah asked, giving him an affectionate look.

"Yes, ma'm," Ford said, with a rakish grin.

"I suppose that could be arranged," Hannah said.

I helped clear the table, and watched in amusement as Clare leaned in close

to Brian and fed him a strawberry.

The phone was ringing and Evan went to answer it, as Brian asked Crane

about his date the night before.

Everybody could hear Evan whooping and hollaring from the living room.

"What in the hell?" Adam said, and then Evan yelled, "It's Daniel!"

Well, the race was on, as the saying goes, to see who could get to the phone

first.

Everybody got enough time to say barely two words to Daniel. At least that's what it

felt like. He'd called collect, and Evan had accepted the charges, and it would be too

expensive if we all said everything we wanted to say.

My turn consisted of me saying, "Daniel!"

"Hey, squirt!"

"How are you?!"

"I'm good. How you doing?"

"Alright. Did they like your new songs?"

"Yeah, they did. Everything alright with you?"

"Yes. Okay."

There was a crackling across the phone line, and for a minute I couldn't hear

him.

"Daniel!" I said, panicked, thinking that we'd been cut off.

"I'm here."

"Oh," I said, feeling a little foolish.

"What's wrong, squirt?" Daniel asked me, and I felt tears rush to the surface.

"Nothing. I miss you, that's all."

"I miss you, too. I'll be home for a visit soon."

"When?" I asked, hating the plaintive sound in my voice.

"In a couple of weeks, I think."

There were three hands reaching to take the phone from me, one of them being

Guthrie.

"Everybody else wants a turn," I said. "I guess I'll talk to you later."

"It won't be long till I see you, squirt, alright?"

I couldn't answer, I was so choked up, and Daniel said,

"We can talk then about what's bothering you."

Not for the first time, but more like the millionith time, I wondered just how

Daniel could zero in on what I was feeling.

"Okay," I managed. "Here's Ford."

"I love you."

"I love you, too, Daniel."

I handed the receiver to one of the outstretched hands, not even really sure

whose hand it was, because my eyes were blurry with tears.

I ran thru the living room, past Hannah's concerned look, and Brian's

voice, saying, "Aw, peach," to me.

I ran to the barn, and climbed to the loft, and cried. I cried for the fact that Daniel

was over two thousand miles away, and the fact that Ford was gone most of the time to college.

But mostly I cried for the fact that Guthrie, my mainstay, my anchor, was my anchor no more.

7

I think I was up there a long time. When I stopped crying, I sat with my knees tucked

up against my chest, and my arms wrapped around my knees.

I remembered, guiltily, that I was supposed to have done the breakfast dishes.

I heard the crackling sound of someone walking across the hay on the barn floor, and

then Ford's voice, quiet and steady, at the bottom of the ladder.

"Har? You alright?"

"No," I said softly.

"Can I come up, or will you come down?"

"I'll come down." I stood up and went down the ladder, jumping down the last two

rungs.

I looked up at Ford and he gave me a halfway smile.

"Guess I don't look so great, huh?" I asked.

"Well," he said, eyeing me consideringly, "let's see." He plucked a piece of hay from the shoulder of

my sweatshirt. "You've got hay all over you. Your eyes are red. Your nose is sort of pink," he hesitated.

"You look okay to me."

"Thanks."

"We don't have to go riding this morning if you don't feel like it."

"No! I mean, I still want to go, Ford."

"Okay. I've got our lunch packed." Ford swaggered to the door,

in his best old west cowboy imitation.

"Shall we saddle 'em up, and head 'em out?"

My morning with Ford was fun. We rode for over two hours, up to the higher ground.

When we stopped to take a break, Ford broke out the cookies. Hannah had

been generous. There were chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, and pumpkin cookies.

"Hannah spoils you," I told him.

"Yep. She does."

"Seriously, Ford, she misses you like crazy."

"I miss her, too. That's one reason I'm glad I'm close to home this year. With

the baby coming and all."

"What's college like?"

"It's good. I like the science classes the most."

"You're so good at science, you'll probably be teaching the class by the end of

this semester."

"I thank you, and my ego thanks you. Are you still thinking of veterinary school?"

"Uh huh," I said, around a mouthful of cookie.

Ford stretched out on the ground, his arms under his head, staring up

at the sky.

"Nothin' more beautiful than a California sky," he said.

"Agreed."

After a couple of minutes, Ford said, "You and Guthrie? What's up?"

I hesitated. I knew if I said I didn't want to talk about it, that Ford wouldn't

push. He's great that way.

"I don't like his girlfriend."

"The black-haired beauty?"

"Yeah."

"So what?"

"What do you mean?"

"Who says you have to? Like her, I mean."

"You don't know this girl, Ford. She's such bad news. All the girls at school

can't stand her because she's so fakey. She goes after any guy she wants, even

if he's already got a girlfriend."

"She must have something going for her, if Guthrie likes her."

"She's pretty, has a tight butt, and perky boobs. That's what's going for her."

Ford looked a little embarrassed, but he still chuckled.

"Okay. I get it. You can't stand her. But still-"

"Here's the part where you tell me that it's Guthrie's business who he

dates. And that she must have some hidden good qualities, and all of that.

Right?"

"I'll save my breath on that stuff. I'm just saying, you may date somebody Guthrie doesn't

like someday, somebody he doesn't think is right for you. What would you want him

to do if the tables were turned?"

I sighed and flopped down beside Ford, on my stomach, yanking at tufts of

grass .

"Can we talk about something else? It's depressing to talk about Guthrie."

"Okay. What do you want to talk about?"

"I want to take an advanced English class next semester. Then if I did well in it, I could take a college English class next year, and get a jump start on college that way."

"A college class in your junior year of high school? Wow, Har, I'm impressed."

"Really?"

"Well, sure. I mean, that's fantastic," Ford said enthusiastically. "I never even considered doing

any college credits until my senior year."

That made me feel really good inside. Ford is one of the smartest people I know, besides being one of the nicest. His opinion means a lot to me.

"I thought I'd talk to Crane about it. See what he thinks of the idea."

"Crane will totally go for it. He'll be proud as hell."

I nibbled on a cookie, and Ford sat up. "You ready?"

"Is it time to start for home?" I asked, disappointed. It seemed like the morning had gone

by so fast.

"Probably ought to. I told Brian I'd help him out this afternoon with some fencing."

"Okay." I sighed and got to my feet.

"Help me up," Ford said, holding out his hand to me.

"Did you turn into an old man since you went to college?" I asked him.

"Just give me your hand."

I helped Ford to his feet, both of us laughing. We gathered up the remnants of our lunch, and stuffed everything into the bag Ford had brought. As we started walking back towards the horses, I dusted the back of Ford's shirt off.

"You sure got dirty," I told him.

"It feels good to be home."

"I had fun with you," I told him.

Ford reached out and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "Everything's gonna turn out alright with you and Guthrie," he said.

I wished that I had the faith of my brothers in this situation.

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When we got back to the house Ford and I separated. He went off somewhere, and

I went downstairs to do laundry with Hannah. None of us wanted her carrying laundry baskets up

or down the stairs. Her only job was to sort the laundry and fold it when it had been dried. Usually Hannah waves away our overprotective ways, but today she didn't complain. She looked tired.

Since there's so many of us, we have two washing machines and two dryers. Once we had both the washers filled and running, Hannah sat down in one of the old garage sale recliners we keep in the basement.

"How was your morning with Ford?"

"It was really fun."

"Good. I'm glad you got to spend some time with him, just the two of you."

"I wish he didn't have to leave tomorrow."

"I know," Hannah said sympathetically. "I wish that, too. But just think about in a couple of weeks

when Daniel and Ford are both home! We'll all be together."

"That'll be nice," I said, nodding. "I can't wait."

Brian's voice from the top of the stairs interrupted our conversation.

"Peach! You down there?"

I went to the foot of the stairs. "Yeah!" I called up.

Brian came halfway down. "What're you doin'?"

"Helping Hannah with laundry."

"Oh, hey, Hannah," Brian said. "I didn't see you sitting there."

"Sure," Hannah said wryly, patting her protruding stomach, "I'm so tiny you can hardly see me."

Brian grinned in appreciation of her joke.

"Can you ride along and help me with some fence repair?" Brian asked me. "Or can you spare her, Hannah?"

"That's fine. She can go," Hannah said.

"I thought Ford was helping you," I asked Brian.

"Adam and Crane nabbed him first."

"Oh. Well," I looked at Hannah for confirmation. "I guess I can."

"Of course you can," Hannah said. "I'm perfectly capable of putting wet clothes in the dryer, and more dirty ones in the washer."

"You won't try to carry anything upstairs?" I persisted. "You promise?"

"Yes, sweetie, I promise."

"Okay," I told Brian.

"Alright. I'll meet you by the Jeep."

"Can I drive?" I asked him.

"We'll see," he said noncommittally.

"That means yes," I told Hannah.

After Brian had gone I asked Hannah if she needed anything before I left.

"Could you bring me the book I'm reading? It's on the desk."

After I'd brought Hannah down a glass of lemonade, and her book, 'What to Expect When You're Expecting' I went to put my boots back on, and went out to find Brian.

I was not particularly happy to see Guthrie climbing into the back seat of the Jeep.

"You didn't tell me Guthrie was going, too," I accused Brian.

Brian stopped sorting thru the tool boxes, and gave me a look that suggested that he thought I'd gone crazy.

"So what?"

"So, I don't want to be around Guthrie."

"What the hell is going on with you two?" Brian demanded.

"It doesn't matter. All I'm saying is, I don't think you want us together right now. I think maybe I should stay home."

"You know what I think? I think you should get your behind in the Jeep," Brian told me.

I sighed, recognizing that tone. Brian was at 'Really Ticked Off'. If he accelerated from 'Really Ticked Off' to 'Roaring Like a Lion', then I'd be in trouble.

"Fine," I muttered, and stomped to the Jeep, sliding into the front passenger seat.

Brian tossed the pliers into the back with Guthrie. "I thought you wanted to drive," he said, looking at me with a puzzled frown.

"Changed my mind," I said, and Brian gave a huge sigh, sliding into the driver's seat.

Nobody talked at all on the way to the north pasture. When we got there, and we all climbed out, Brian told Guthrie and I to unload the wire fencing.

I went to the back of the Jeep and started pulling the wire roll out.

"I'll do it," Guthrie said, and lifted it like it was effortless.

I shrugged. "Whatever," I said.

"How about 'thank you'?" Guthrie said, sarcastically.

"Thanks for what? I could do it just fine without any help from you. I'm not a fragile

Southern buttercup like some people."

"Real mature, Har. Real mature."

"Yes, I know. It takes real maturity for me to deal with your sorry self."

Brian had listened to our exchange up to now without comment, but now

he leveled a look at both of us.

"You both sound like little kids. We've got work to do, and I don't feel like listening

to this nonsense all afternoon. So save it for later, get busy, and shut up."

7

Thank you for the great reviews! I appreciate them so much.


	6. Turnabout is fair play

By the time we were done with the fencing, and heading back to the house, I was tired.

It had been a long day. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the door as Brian

drove back.

"I wonder what's for supper," I heard Guthrie comment.

"Clare's cooking tonight," Brian said.

Guthrie whistled thru his teeth. An action which I took to be meant as an insult, since

Clare's cooking skills aren't very well honed yet.

"Hey, now," Brian said.

"Well, what's she makin', do you know?" Guthrie persisted.

"No, I don't know, but whatever it is, you be nice, alright?"

"Sure."

"She's just never had much experience cooking, that's all. So at least act as if you like what

she makes, please."

"Sure. I'll even ask for seconds," Guthrie said, and he sounded so funny that I had to suppress the urge to giggle. I sighed, thinking how nice it would be to not be on the outs with Guthrie. I missed laughing and horsing around with him.

7

For supper Clare made spaghetti, with salad, and store-bought rolls, and other than

the meatballs not holding together, I thought everything turned out fairly well. She had spaghetti sauce on her shirt, and some on her chin, and she looked hot and uncomfortable. Even though her hair was all messed up, coming out of her ponytail, she looked as beautiful as ever.

When everybody praised her cooking, she turned a little pink, and flustered, but her smile was

happy and pleased. Her cherry pie, on the other hand, wasn't so tasty. The crust was hard and there wasn't enough sugar in it. Everybody still ate a piece, though.

After supper, Guthrie got cleaned up and went out. I assumed it was to go see Megan. I was sitting beside Hannah and we were working on sorting thru a box of old pictures. Even though there weren't very many of Guthrie and I, I still liked looking at them. Clare was sitting cross-legged on the floor, pulling out pictures, looking for old ones of Brian.

When Guthrie came down the stairs, he was wearing his good western snap-up shirt, and smelling like cologne. I heard Adam tell him to be home by midnight. Hannah was asking Guthrie what he had planned, and I kept looking at pictures, trying not to seem like I was eavesdropping.

Guthrie told them he was taking Megan to Angels Camp to a movie. After the movie, he said, they might go out to eat, if 'Megan wanted to', and wherever 'Megan wanted to.'

I gave a humph under my breath, and when Guthrie glared at me, Hannah gave me a nudge in the ribs.

"Have a good time, Guth," Hannah said.

After Guthrie left, Hannah gave me a look.

I stopped sorting thru the pictures in my hand.

"What?" I asked innocently.

"Was that really necessary?"

I shrugged, without answering.

"Hannah asked you a question," Adam prompted. He looked a little mad.

"I guess not," I admitted.

"You know not," Hannah said, in gentle reproof.

There was a lot I wanted to say, but I didn't like the look on Adam's face, so I said

nothing at all.

"We'll talk more about this in a little bit," Hannah told me.

7

Hannah and I didn't have that talk, though, because she and Clare and I worked so long on the

pictures that Hannah got tired and went up to bed.

Clare and I stayed up later, still sorting, and having Brian and Crane help decide on the month and year on the ones that weren't written on.

Finally Brian pulled Clare, laughing, to her feet, and they went upstairs.

"Goodnight, everybody," Clare called over her shoulder.

Everybody hollered goodnight back.

Crane started picking up the loose pictures that were all over the table.

"Quit for tonight, peanut," he told me.

I said okay and started laying the pictures back into the box carefully.

"Don't you think you're being kind of a pill about this thing with Guthrie?" Crane asked.

"Exactly what I was thinking," Adam agreed.

They were both looking at me, in an expectant way that said they wanted an answer.

"I don't know," I said. I was suddenly tired, and wishing that I'd gone to bed at the same time

as Hannah.

"Harlie," Adam said, in a warning tone.

"Okay!" I said. "I guess I am!"

"Do you want a full-blown lecture? Or are you going to quit?" Adam said.

I looked at him, and quick tears sprung to my eyes.

"I don't want a lecture," I said.

"Then don't make me talk to you again about it. Whatever you're doing isn't going to change Guthrie's mind about this girl. So knock it off. Understand?"

I nodded.

"Try again," he said.

"I understand," I said.

Crane, who'd stayed silent during the exchange between Adam and I, laid a hand on the side of my face.

"You don't want to hurt Guthrie over this whole thing, do you?" he asked.

"He doesn't care if he hurts me," I protested, and at Crane's look of sympathy, I

ran upstairs.

7777777

Tired as I was I had trouble falling asleep. I had a stomachache, and went to the bathroom

medicine cabinet to look for Pepto-Bismol. After I drank a medicine cupful of it, I

came out of the bathroom, to see Guthrie coming quietly up the stairs.

I knew for a fact that it was after midnight, more like one a.m., and by the way Guthrie was trying to be so quiet I knew he didn't want anybody to know he was getting home late.

We stopped and surveyed one another silently for a couple of moments.

I thought about pointing out the fact that he was late for curfew, but I decided that

would be provoking him.

"Hey," Guthrie said, sounding slightly cautious in his tone.

"Hey," I returned, also slightly tentative.

"Anybody still up?" he asked.

"I don't think so."

Guthrie gave me kind of a funny look, and I know him so well, that I knew it was a look

that was trying to determine whether I was going to tell on him.

"Guess I'm a little late," he said, with a half-way ornery grin that was so much like

the Guthrie I've always known, that I felt a pain in my chest that was almost physical.

"A little," I agreed. I knew I should reassure him that his secret was safe with me, but

I decided to let him stew for a few more minutes. At least he was talking to me.

"Hannah okay?" he asked.

"Yeah. She was tired."

We stood looking at each other again, and finally I said, in conversation,

"Did you go to Butch's? I bet it was crowded tonight."

"Yeah, it was crowded."

"Did you have fun?"

Guthrie looked puzzled, and then, he answered warily, "Yeah."

Then, he said, "How come you're askin' that? Do you want me to have fun with Megan?"

I thought about that for a minute. "I guess I want you to have fun. I don't care if she does."

I went on to my bedroom doorway.

"I won't tell on you," I said.

7

The next day was church, and then we came home to a big pot of chili that Brian made. Guthrie

commented casually that he was going to eat supper at Megan's house that night. I saw the look

that Adam sent Hannah from his end of the table.

"That's nice," Hannah said, mildly. "Will her mother be there?"

"Sure," Guthrie answered easily. He winked at Hannah. "Don't worry, mom."

"I'm allowed to worry," Hannah told him.

"When are we going to meet this girl?" Adam asked.

"Yeah," Brian chimed in. "I'm starting to get real curious about her."

"Well, I don't know," Guthrie said, looking a little uncomfortable.

"Are you ashamed of us?" Evan tossed in, with a teasing grin.

"I'm beginning to think he is," Crane said, with a sideways smile at Evan.

"It's not that," Guthrie protested.

"We could have her here to eat sometime soon," Hannah offered.

"Well," Guthrie hesitated, looking put-upon. "Okay. I'll ask her."

"Good heavens," Hannah said. "Don't act as if you're going to the guillotine. We're

not as bad as all that, Guthrie."

Instantly Guthrie looked ashamed. "Sorry, Hannah! I didn't mean it like that. It's just-

well, you know how it is. But I'll ask her, I promise."

"Alright, then," Hannah said, with a smile, letting him off the hook.

7

It was the next day that I got my idea. And the thing is, it happened by accident.

I was walking out of the school building, after the last bell had rung. I was reading as

I walked. Pride and Prejudice. I wasn't making any particular effort to hurry.

After all, I thought Guthrie could wait on me for a change.

Someone fell in step beside me, and I looked up to see Seth Foreman walking

beside me. Seth is a transfer from a neighboring high school in Sonora. He's a senior

and a big football jock. I've never talked to him, beyond saying hello in the hallways.

Guthrie's complained to me, on occasion, calling Seth a 'lazy ass', who never

does his share of the work in the science labs. Guthrie's exact words had been,

"He's a prick. He thinks cause he's a big football star, that he shouldn't have to do

anything."

"Hey," Seth said to me.

"Hi."

"What'd you think of that test today in English?" he asked.

Another thing Guthrie points out about Seth is that he's a senior, but is having

to retake sophomore English and junior science.

I wasn't sure what to answer. I settled for, "It wasn't too bad, I guess."

"Wow, I thought it was tough!"

"What you readin?" he asked, pointing to the book in my hand.

I held it up and he squinted at the title. "That's a thick book," he said.

Then he became all swagger again.

"Pretty, and smart, too," he said, nudging me in the side.

"Thanks," I said.

I was kind of surprised, actually. I couldn't decide if he was flirting with me,

or what.

We were outside by now, and I could see Guthrie and Megan leaning against his truck.

As we'd gotten closer, I'd noticed Guthrie watching me. He stopped slouching,

and stood up to his full height.

I stopped walking, and looked up at Seth. I had to look way, way up.

I thought that I wouldn't have paid much attention to Seth, if he hadn't approached

me. He was sure good looking, though.

"Harlie!" Guthrie yelled. "Let's go!" He sounded majorly perturbed.

"I don't think your brother likes me much," Seth said, casually, as if

he wasn't really bothered by the fact.

"Harlie!" Guthrie yelled again. "Now!"

I swung a glance at Guthrie. He looked put out, even angry.

Hmmm. Interesting.

"Do you think you can give me a ride home?" I asked, an idea forming in

my mind. "If it's not too much trouble, I mean-". I let my voice trail off,

and gave Seth a hopeful glance. I don't use my flirting skills too often,

so they don't get a lot of practice.

" Well, yeah," Seth agreed, looking pleased.

I walked over to Guthrie. "I'm riding home with Seth," I said lightly.

"Naw, you're ridin' home with me, just like you always do," Guthrie corrected. "Let's

go." He held his door open and Megan climbed in obligingly.

"Come on," he told me again, impatiently.

"I think I'll just ride with Seth, like I said." I smiled brightly, looking in the

cab at Megan. "I know Megan would just love a chance to be alone with you!"

Megan blinked at me, then frowned, like she was trying to figure out if I was being

seriously nice or what.

Guthrie, however, knowing me like he does, had no such qualms.

"I'm not kidding, Har. Let's go," he said, grimly.

"I'll see you at home," I told him. "Bye, Meg!" I wiggled my fingers at them

in a wave, and walked back to Seth.

As Seth and I drove past, I had the satisfaction of seeing Megan's face,

still looking baffled, and Guthrie, showing all the signs of a McFadden

temper tryst.

I was so busy thinking about how this might show Guthrie how it

felt, me going off with someone he disliked as much as he did Seth, that I didn't

hear Seth until he said, "Hey!"

"Uh, what?" I asked.

"I said do you want to get a Coke or somethin' at Butch's?"

"Sure."

By the time Seth drove into our long driveway, he'd asked me to the Homecoming dance

coming up in two weeks. I could see that Guthrie was already home, and perched

on the top railing of the fence, talking to Evan.

I hopped out when Seth pulled to a stop, and called louder than was necessary,

"Bye, Seth! Thanks for the ride!"

Guthrie was off the railing and heading my direction with intent.

"What the hell are you playing at?" he demanded.

I gave Guthrie an innocent smile. "What in the world do you mean, Guthrie?"

7

Thank you for reviews!


	7. Muddy Mix Up

"You know exactly what I mean!" Guthrie accused.

"Well, I'm not sure, so maybe you'd better just go ahead and tell me," I told him,

knowing that I was deliberately provoking him.

"What's with riding home with that jackass?"

"Jackass?" I asked, putting a puzzled look in my face. "You mean Seth?"

"Of course I mean Seth!"

"Well," I said slowly, as if I was considering that, "I don't think Seth is a jackass-

so I don't really see what you mean..."

Our argument drew Evan over.

"What's going on?" he asked.

I looked at Evan, and feigned ignorance. "I'm not sure," I said, holding my hand

up questioningly.

"Quit acting like that!" Guthrie yelled.

"Acting like what?"

"Fake and stupid, and stuff! Like you don't know what I'm talking about!"

"Me, fake?" I said, dramatically holding my hand to my chest. "I don't do

fake, Guthrie. I think you must have me confused with some other girl you know-"

"I'm about to kick your butt, Har, I swear I am!"

"Evan won't let you, will you, Ev?" I said, sneering at Guthrie.

"Well, I don't know if I will or not," Evan said slowly.

"What's THAT supposed to mean?" I demanded of Evan.

"I don't know exactly what's going on," Evan said, looking extremely amused. "So

I don't know if you need your butt kicked or not. Do you, Har?"

"No, I don't!"

"Yeah, you do," Guthrie countered. "You're trying to tick me off on purpose!"

"Why would I do that?"

"You've got no business riding anywhere with that jerkwad. Don't do it again," Guthrie said,

pointing a finger in my face.

Well, I took great offense at that! Just who did Guthrie think he was, talking to

me like that? Especially when he wouldn't listen to a word I said about Megan! And to

top it off, he thought he could point at me like that? Umm, I don't think so!

I smacked his finger away. "I can ride home with anybody I want to," I informed

him haughtily.

"You don't know what kind of guy Seth is."

"Oh yes, I forgot," I said sarcastically. "He doesn't do his share of work in the biology labs!

What a dumb reason to dislike somebody, Guthrie!"

"It's not just that," Guthrie protested. "He's not a good guy at all, Harlie. You need

to trust me on this, okay?"

"Why should I listen to anything you have to say?" I pointed out. "You don't listen

to me."

"So that's what this is about? You're doing this because I won't break up with

Megan just because you want me to? Oh, my gosh!" Guthrie slapped his leg

in annoyance. "This is totally different, Har!"

"I don't see any difference. I'm perfectly capable of making my own decisions,

just the same as you."

"You don't know about guys like Seth-" Guthrie began.

"Then I guess I'll learn, won't I?"

Guthrie's face turned so red that it looked like he was going to explode.

"Take that back," he said, in a creepily quiet voice.

"No."

"I'm not kidding. You don't know what you're talking about."

"I'm not kidding, either." I began poking Guthrie in the chest, with a poke

for every word. "Mind. Your. Own. Business." I gave

him a final hard poke. "And stay out of mine. Sound familiar, Guth-reee?" I mocked.

Guthrie reached up and captured my hand, squeezing it so hard that

it hurt.

"Stop it," he ordered.

Since I couldn't poke, I aimed a kick at his shin. He hollared 'owww!' but

didn't let go of my hand.

"Alright, both of you, stop!" Evan said. "This has gone far enough."

"He needs to let go of me!" I yelled.

"I will, if you stop poking me," Guthrie countered.

"Fine! I'll stop!"

Guthrie let my hand go, and I immediately gave him a ferociously hard poke

in the center of his chest.

"Take that!" I said, and turned to run. I ran towards the corral, and crawled thru,

looking back to see Guthrie chasing me, a little too close for my liking.

I ran into the center of the cows, feeding on their hay, and while some of them, used

to commotion, took little notice of us, others that were more skittish starting

running back thru the gate to the pasture.

Since it had rained the night before, the cows were kicking up mud, and my

school jeans were already pretty well caked with mud, not to mention my shoes. I

realized running that particular direction hadn't been the best decision.

I ran around the side of one of the water troughs, putting it between myself

and Guthrie, who by now was caught up with me.

We played the dodge game, me zigging one way, as Guthrie zagged the other

way, lunging for me across the water trough.

"Leave me aloooone!" I yelled.

Guthrie didn't answer, he was too intent on grabbing me. I could hear Evan

yelling at us, and I caught certain words, but I didn't dare turn around to look at

him, because I was having enough trouble keeping clear of Guthrie's long

arms.

"Help, Evan!" I yelled.

"What're you yelling for help for?! You're the one that started this!" Guthrie

hollared.

"I'm yelling 'cause you've gone crazy! Evvvvannn!"

Guthrie lunged, and I stepped back. I overstepped, and fell on my rear end in the

mud, banging my elbow on the edge of the water trough. It hurt, but I didn't have

time to worry about it, because Guthrie grabbed my arm, trying to pull me to

my feet. He started shaking me, and I reacted like a cornered bear.

I gave his hair a hard yank, and since my hands were muddy from my fall, Guthrie's

hair got good and muddy, too. We both tumbled to the ground, rolling in the mud.

Suddenly, I was picked up and pulled back, away from Guthrie, caught in a hard as steel grip around my waist.

Evan was pulling Guthrie backwards, and then Crane joined in, taking Guthrie by the

arm.

"Harlie!" Adam's voice roared, and the arm around my middle tightened until

I thought I couldn't breathe. "Stop it!"

I realized I was still struggling instinctively, and I stopped, trying to catch my

breath. It felt like a roaring in my ears.

"You going to stop?" Adam asked me, and I was trying to answer, but I couldn't

seem to be able to. Caught up by Adam like that, my feet dangling off the ground, I

tried to nod my head.

Apparently, Adam couldn't see me nodding, because he set me on my feet, and

gripped my arm like a vice.

"Answer me!"

"Yes." I managed.

"Yes, what?" He gave me a shake.

"Yes," I said breathlessly. "I'll stop."

I could see Crane leaning close to Guthrie, a hand on his shoulder, talking to him

quietly.

"What the hell is going on?" Adam asked. He wasn't yelling but he wasn't talking

quietly, either.

He was talking to both Guthrie and I, and I looked at Guthrie. He was near about

as covered with mud as me. I was glad to see that he appeared to be as out of

breath as I was.

"One of you start talking. Now!"

"I didn't like who she rode home from school with," Guthrie said. "And I told

her so."

Adam turned to me. "Who'd you ride with?"

"Seth Foreman."

"Who's that?" Crane asked.

"A new boy at school. Guthrie acts- like I committed a crime, or something!"

"You're just doing it to make me mad," Guthrie said. "There's no reason

for you to ride with some prick when you're supposed to ride with me."

I took a step towards Guthrie, yelling, "Maybe I don't want to ride with you

anymore! Maybe I'm tired of watching you suck face with Megan!"

Guthrie stepped closer, too, shrugging off Crane's hand.

"That's fine! Ride the bus, then! I've been doing you a favor, hauling your

butt around. Maybe I'm tired of you, too!"

I couldn't stop the quick stab of hurt his words caused me. I caught my

breath.

Crane reclaimed Guthrie's shoulder with a hand. "Stop, before what you

say goes too far. Both of you."

I stepped up until I was right next to Guthrie, glaring up at him.

"I don't think I'll have to ride the bus! I'm sure Seth will be glad to bring

me home every single day if I want him to!" I needled him.

"You'd best not, Har!" Guthrie threatened.

We were both back into the heat of the argument, and I think we would have

gone at it again if Crane and Adam hadn't been standing there.

Crane hauled Guthrie backwards, and I was jerked back to Adam's side so fiercely that

I would have lost my footing again, if he hadn't had a hand wrapped in the material

of my shirt, holding me upright.

"Shut up, both of you!" He turned me loose, standing me next to Guthrie, so close

that our shoulders were touching.

"I do not want to hear a word out of you," he said, pointing at me. "Or you," now

pointing at Guthrie.

"Later, I'm gonna have plenty to say, and you'd both best be ready with some

answers. Until then, Guthrie, go do your chores. You don't go into the house until

Crane or I go in." He turned to me. "Harlie, you go in and get cleaned up, and then

help Hannah with supper. You're neither one to even say a word to each other

until I say different. Understood?"

"Understood," Guthrie said.

"Fine with me! That's the best idea I've heard in a week!" I said, and when Adam's eyes narrowed, I realized how flippant

I sounded.

"Go on, Guthrie," he said, and after Guthrie had gone, following Crane and Evan

across the muddy barnyard, Adam turned to look down at me. It's times like

this that I realize anew just how tall Adam really is. He can be pretty intimidating

then if he's angry. Which he very definitely was now.

He held up his thumb and index finger to show what looked like a quarter of

an inch of air space between them. "See that?" he asked me.

I nodded tremulously, not sure what he was getting to.

"That's how close you are to gettin' your behind tanned."

I winced, my stomach knotting nervously.

"Please don't, Adam!"

Adam took off his hat, wiping an arm across his forehead, and then putting

his ball cap back on, surveying me with a piercing look the whole time.

"Please," I said, trying to hold back tears. "I'm sorry I got sassy!"

"Go in and do what I told you," he said, his voice deadly quiet.

"Yes, sir," I said, and ran as fast as I was able to run, with my wet and muddy

jeans and sneakers.

Hannah was standing on the porch with Clare as I ran up. I wondered how much of the

barnyard brawl they'd observed. By the look on Hannah's face, I assumed it

must have been quite a lot. I stopped at the bottom of the stairs to look up

at her. She looked a little mad, and a lot puzzled.

I waited, but she didn't say anything.

"Adam told me to take a shower and then help you with supper," I said, awkwardly,

thru my tears.

"Alright," Hannah said.

I hurried past her and Clare, stopping inside the door long enough to pull off

my muddy shoes. I carried them up the stairs in one hand.

I took a shower, washing the mud off my skin and out of

my hair, wishing I could linger under the hot water. But I wasn't daring enough

to take very long.

I put on an old pair of sweatpants and a Minnie Mouse T-shirt, and brushed

my hair vehemently, tying it back so tightly and carelessly that it burst out in wild

tendrils and curls on the top of my head. I took my mud-soaked clothes and

sneakers downstairs, going down to the basement thru the door off of the

living room. I sprayed spot remover on everything and put it all in the

washing machine.

I trudged up to the kitchen, dreading to face Hannah. It wasn't that I was worried

about her being mad, although of course I didn't want her to be. It was more that

I felt ashamed, and worried about upsetting her. I'd read all the pregnancy books,

too, and I knew stress was bad for the baby.

I paused at the doorway. Clare and Hannah were both sitting at the table,

peeling potatoes. They both looked up at me. Clare gave me an encouraging

smile.

Hannah didn't smile, but her greeting was Hannah-like.

"All cleaned up? Did you put your clothes in the washer?"

"Yes. What do you want me to do?"

"Well, you could mix up some brownies for dessert if you want."

I said okay, and started mixing up brownies, just as if it were any other

afternoon, and wishing that it was.

7777777


	8. Mud is for pigs, and for siblings

I mixed up the brownies, even adding some chocolate chips to give them an extra

chocolatey taste.

After I put them in the oven, I set the table, working around Hannah, who was

still sitting there, looking tired. Clare was putting the potatoes on to cook.

"I need to get up," Hannah sighed. "I can't seem to get motivated today."

"You got a lot done today," Clare said. "Don't be so hard on yourself."

"Do you want a cup of tea?" I asked Hannah.

"No, thanks, sweetie. Maybe later on tonight I'll have some."

"Okay." I hesitated. "Is there anything else you want me to do?"

"I can't think of anything right now," Hannah said. "You can sit down here

and talk with me."

I could hear the front door opening and closing, and the sound of deep

male voices and boot steps in the living room.

"They're in early tonight!" Clare said, in excitement, and hurried into the

living room, no doubt to see Brian. Any other time, I would have found Clare's

eagerness to see Brian amusing. But right at this particular moment in time, I

had my own emotions to deal with.

I looked at Hannah pleadingly. "I can fold laundry, or something-please,

Hannah! I don't want to face anybody right now!"

"It's only thirty minutes or so before supper. You'll have to face them then-"

"I know! I just need a few more minutes! Please?"`

"Alright," Hannah sighed. "I think there's some towels in the dryer to fold."

I wasted no time in making my escape, barely down the first couple of stairs

when I heard Adam's voice, no doubt asking Hannah where I was.

Unfortunately it didn't take that long to fold what towels there were in the

dryer. I put another load of sheets in the washer, and then curled up in the chair,

wishing I could just stay down in the basement all evening.

But, of course, that's not the way it went. It seemed like no time at all that

Crane's voice came from the top of the stairs, calling me.

"Harlie, supper!"

I curled up tighter in the chair, and sat.

"Harlie!" Crane came halfway down the stairs, and I knew he was leaning over

the railing, looking for me.

I stuck my head around the side of the chair so he could see me.

He frowned and came down a few more steps. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Laundry."

"Uh huh. Well, it's time for supper. Come on."

"I'm not very hungry. I think I'll skip supper."

"I think not. Let's go."

I sighed heavily, and got to my feet. At the bottom of the steps, I stopped, and

looked up at him, pleadingly.

"I can't, Crane. Please don't make me."

"It's not going to get any better, or go away, just because you hide down here," Crane

pointed out reasonably.

I didn't feel like being reasonable right then, though.

"I don't care," I said, looking up at him mutinously. "Everybody's going to blame

me for it all. Guthrie's the prince around here."

"That's not true, and you know it."

"What's not true? That I'll be blamed, or that Guthrie's the favored one?" I asked, an edge

of frustration in my voice.

"Neither one of those is true, and that's enough stalling." He stepped back and motioned

towards the top of the stairs. "Get moving."

I stomped up the first few stairs and when I was in front of him, Crane put a

hand on the small of my back, giving me a gentle push with one hand, and swatting

my behind with his other hand.

A quick 'ouch!' escaped, and I turned to look up at him reproachfully.

"What's that for?" I asked.

"It seems like you needed it. Keep moving or I'll do it again."

7b7b 7b7b 7b7b 7b7b

Everybody else was already seated at the table, and I slid into my chair between

Guthrie and Hannah, while Crane took his place across the table.

Guthrie, who'd also cleaned up and changed clothes, handed me things as they were passed around the table, and I took them,

carefully avoiding looking at him. I took as little food as I could, my stomach

being in knots.

I risked one look at Adam at the opposite end of the table.

He was listening to Evan and Brian, and nodding his head in answer,

but I thought he looked like he was still mad. He looked my way,

and caught my gaze. I looked away really quickly.

Between not looking towards Adam, or Guthrie, my neck hurt from holding it in one spot.

The only person I could see totally clearly was Hannah to my left.

When the brownies were passed around the table, there were rave reviews.

When the compliments began, Hannah was quick to give me the credit.

"Harlie made them," she said, giving me a smile.

"Hey, Har," Evan said, from across the table, "they're great!"

"Thanks," I mumbled.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Guthrie stuffing his mouth with brownies,

but he didn't offer any compliments. That was fine with me. I didn't want to hear

his voice, anyway.

I was vastly irritated by the fact that Guthrie's appetite didn't appear to be

suffering at all from our altercation earlier. I was even more disgruntled.

I thought darkly that of course he wouldn't have a nervous stomach like me,

because he was the 'good' one, the one Adam and Crane and probably everybody

else, would think was in the right. I knew that I'd provoked Guthrie, and that

I shouldn't have poked him, but still-it would be nice to feel that someone was on my

side.

7

When supper was finished, and everybody started getting up and scooting in their

chairs, Adam said both my name and Guthrie's. We both looked at him, and he pushed

his chair in, and came over to where we stood, side by side.

"Both of you get started on your homework," he said. "Here, after a bit, we're

going to have a discussion, and get some things straightened out."

Guthrie said okay, and this time I wisely kept my comments to myself and just

nodded.

` Guthrie sat down on the couch, with his books all around him, and normally

I would have been sitting beside him, helping each other, and horsing around.

Today, though, I did my homework sitting at Crane's desk.

"Are you finished?" Adam asked me, a little later.

"Not yet."

"Okay. You can finish after we're done. Come over here and sit down."

I turned in my chair and watched as Adam, Hannah, Crane, and Brian

all sat down on couches and chairs. Wow. It looked like a summit for the

United Nations.

I sighed, and got to my feet. I found a spot on the other side of Hannah.

"Alright, Guthrie, what happened this afternoon?" Adam started out.

"Harlie wanted to ride home with Seth. I didn't want her to. I told her that."

"What's the problem with Seth?" Crane asked.

Guthrie hesitated slightly, looking uncomfortable. I glared at him from my

vantage point across the room.

"He's just not a good guy," Guthrie said.

"That's pretty vague, Guth," Brian said.

"What do you mean exactly, Guthrie?" Hannah asked.

"It's kind of-" he hesitated again. "Kind of a guy thing, Hannah."

"Just say it, buddy, I promise I can handle it," Hannah said.

"Well, he's just not the sort of guy Harlie should be hanging around."

"Says you," I said, so low and quietly that only Hannah heard me, and she

shook her head at me.

I frowned, but clamped my lips shut.

"He likes to take out the younger girls," Guthrie continued. "Then he likes to

brag it up in the locker room."

Brian's jaw tightened, and Adam's mouth set in a hard line.

"I just didn't want him talking about Harlie like that-" Guthrie said, and Hannah

reached over to pat his knee.

"Of course you didn't," she said.

"Who says he would?" I interjected with a snap. I couldn't help it. My temper was

rising.

"Harlie," Hannah said, reprovingly. "It's not your turn."

I slouched against the back of the couch, crossing my arms.

Guthrie went on to say that I was only doing this to tick him off. I glared at him

so fiercely that he should have had holes burned in his chest.

Guthrie noticed, too, because he met my glare with one of his own.

"It's true, Har, you know it is."

I tightened my lips, looking away from him.

"Is that true, peach?" Brian asked, looking disappointed.

"Yes, I knew it would make Guthrie mad," I admitted.

"Harlie, why would you do that?" Hannah asked.

There was so much I wanted to say, so many things pent up inside, that

I felt frustration almost overwhelm me.

I shook my head.

"This is your chance to talk," Crane said.

"I can't talk," I protested.

"Why can't you?" Adam asked, sounding irritated.

"Because. Everything I need to say will come out sounding like I'm being

sassy, and disrespectful. That's why."

"You can say it without being rude," Hannah told me.

"It feels like everybody's against me," I said, and Hannah looked at

me sadly.

"We're not, Harlie," she protested.

"Of course we're not," Brian said, sounding impatient.

"It sounds like Guthrie meant well," Crane said.

"Uh huh," I said, sounding disbelieving, and Crane gave me a disapproving look.

"How did it come to you two brawling in the mud?" Adam asked then.

"Guthrie decided to be my boss," I said, looking right at Guthrie.

"I was just tryin' to look out for you. You didn't have to start poking me like a six

year old," Guthrie protested.

"Keep your finger out of my face from now on then," I countered.

"Alright! Let's not start up all that again," Adam said grimly. He gave us both a

'I mean business' look. "Let me put it a different way. Whatever you two have

gotten crossed between you has gotten out of hand. It might have started out small,

but it's graduated to ridiculous."

"It really has," Hannah agreed. "You're both better than what happened this

afternoon."

"You kids have always been tight," Brian added. "Don't throw that away."

"You need to settle this thing, and quick," Adam said. "Things got carried too

far today. It's over. But there's to be no more fighting, or bickering with

each other. If you can't agree, then so be it. But be more tolerant of each other's

feelings. Got it?"

We both said okay, and Brian asked Hannah if there was any pie or cake.

"I think there's probably something to be found for you," Hannah said, smiling

at Brian fondly.

I knew Adam was mad at me for earlier, fighting with Guthrie, and then

being mouthy. But right at that moment, there was only one person who I

really wanted to talk to, and that was him.

"Could I talk to you, Adam?" I asked him. "Just us two?"

Adam looked at me thoughtfully, then nodded.

"Okay," he said, and stood up. "Let's go on the porch."

At the door, he pushed the screen open, and let me walk in front of him. Then

he pulled the front door shut.

"You want to sit?" he asked me, gesturing at the porch swing.

"Okay."

When we were settled in the swing, Adam started it gently swinging with

a push of his boot.

I turned towards him a little more.

"I want to apologize to you," I said, "for sassing you earlier."

"You already did," he said, not unkindly.

"I know I did. But I want to say it again, so you know I'm not just

saying it to get out of-out of trouble."

"Out of a turn across my knee, you mean?"

I nodded, feeling my cheeks grow warm.

"I respect you, Adam. I do."

"I know you do," he said, his face softening a bit.

"I did ride with Seth to make Guthrie mad. I wanted him to see how

it felt. I know I shouldn't have. It was dumb."

"Yeah. It was."

"Seth seems pretty nice, though. Maybe Guthrie's wrong about him."

"A boy who talks about girls in the locker room isn't a good guy, sugar.

Guthrie's exactly right about that."

"I wouldn't do anything with him, though, so why would he talk about me?"

"That probably wouldn't make any difference. Sometimes boys like that don't

need a reason to trash talk a girl. They'll do it to look like a big man."

"Oh. Well, he asked me to the Homecoming Dance next week."

"You know that's not gonna happen, right?"

"I guess."

"No guess about it. Not happening."

"Okay." I sighed. "No boy will ever be good enough for you all."

"Probably not," Adam agreed wryly.

After a couple of minutes of silence, Adam asked,

"Rolling in the mud like a couple of pigs isn't the way to solve anything."

"Guthrie made me so mad. I guess we both lost our tempers."

Adam put an arm around my shoulders.

"I'm going to ask you something, and I want you to answer me honest,

from your heart. Alright?"

"Okay."

"What's Guthrie been to you all your life? Just a brother?"

I hesitated, then said honestly, "No. Not just a brother." I swallowed

past the lump in my throat. "A buddy. Somebody who's always there."

"A fellow adventurer? Partner in crime?" Adam suggested.

"Yeah. And-my best friend."

Adam squeezed my shoulder. "Yeah," he said. "Here's another question. Do

you think Guthrie cares about you? I mean, really wants the best

for you?"

"Yeah," I admitted.

"And I know you want the same for him, too. So how can this whole thing be fixed?"

"I don't know. It's Guthrie's fault, too. Is it up to me to make the first move?"

Adam sighed, looking out across the barnyard, that was beginning to be shadowed

in dusk.

"Let me ask you one thing. Is a Seth, or a Megan, or anything else, really worth

losing what you and Guthrie have always had between you?"

"No," I said, and wiped at my wet cheek.

"There's your answer, then."

7

Please leave reviews if you like, and thank you!


	9. Meaning of courage according to Crane

After Adam and I were done talking, and he'd gone back inside, I still sat there in the porch swing

for awhile, thinking, as the sun faded away. It was so quiet and peaceful, there on the front porch.

I thought about a lot of things, sitting there. I thought about what Adam had said, and about how

much I missed spending time with Guthrie, and just being able to joke around with him.

I missed simple things, like going for ice cream after school, and then Guthrie letting me

drive his truck home, bumping along on the country roads, laughing.

I made my mind up as to what I was going to do. I went inside and found the living room

fairly quiet. Evan was laying on the couch, watching a western on TV. Crane was sitting at

his desk figuring something on a piece of paper.

When he saw me, he said, "Want to sit here to finish your homework?"

"No, that's okay. I just have a few math problems left. I'll do them upstairs."

I gathered up my books, and said goodnight to Crane. I stopped beside the couch

where Evan was laying.

"Want to watch with me?" he asked.

"Not tonight. Do you know where Guthrie is?"

Evan turned his attention from the TV screen to me instead.

"Hey, now," he said. "I thought Adam said no more fisticuffs."

"I'm not, silly. I just want to know where he is."

"I think he went upstairs."

"Okay." I told Evan goodnight, too, and went upstairs. After I dropped my books on

my bed, I went to knock on Hannah and Adam's bedroom door, and Adam opened it, wearing a t-shirt and

sweatpants. I'm so accustomed to seeing Adam in his jeans and western shirts that it always

gives me pause to see him looking so casual, and comfortable looking.

"Hey," he greeted me.

"Hey. I just wanted to say goodnight."

"You just now coming in?"

"Yeah."

"Come in here, Harlie, and give me a hug," Hannah said from where she was curled up

on the bed.

I went over and leaned down to hug her.

"Are you feeling alright?" I asked.

"Yes. Fine. How about you? Feeling a little better?"

"A little."

When I passed by where Adam was standing, he looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"How about me? Do I get a hug, too?"

I nodded, and gave him a hard hug around his waist.

"Wow," he said, pretending to wheeze. "About to squeeze the stuffing out of me, there, sugar."

I giggled.

" Think about what I said, alright?" Adam said quietly, against my ear.

"I will. I did. I'm going to talk to Guthrie."

"That's my girl," he said, and kissed the top of my head.

7777777

I went to stand in front of Guthrie's bedroom door. I could hear his radio playing.

Standing there in the hall, I was trying to get my thoughts together, when Crane

came up the stairs and stopped beside me.

"Thought you were going to bed, peanut," he said.

"I'm heading there soon. I'm going to talk to Guthrie first."

"Oh."

When I just stood there without moving or knocking, Crane looked at me

and then at Guthrie's closed door.

"You're out here, but Guthrie's in there, right?" Crane asked, looking amused.

"I'm trying to work up my courage," I admitted.

Crane leaned against the wall in the hallway. "You can do it," he said. "I believe

in you."

"Thanks, Crane."

"Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak,

Courage is also what it takes to sit and down and listen," Crane quoted.

I squinted up at him, thoughtfully. "That means to listen to what Guthrie has to

say, too, right?"

"Right."

"Okay." I raised my hand to knock, and then lowered it again. I looked at Crane

and shrugged.

"You'll be out here until Christmas at this rate," Crane said, and then he rapped

on Guthrie's door with his knuckles.

"Hey, Guth!" he called. "You busy?"

"Naw, come on in," Guthrie called back.

"There you go," Crane said, with a smile, as he went on down the hall to his own

room.

"Yeah. Here I go," I muttered to myself, and opened the door to go in.

Guthrie was laying on his back on his bed, tossing a baseball up into the air, and

catching it, then tossing it again. When I came in, he looked at me, not bothering to

disguise his surprise. I stayed in the open doorway, looking at him tremulously.

Guthrie sat up, and reached over to turn off his radio.

"Hi," I said.

"Hey."

"Crane was trying to help, knocking like that-" I said falteringly.

"Huh."

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" I asked.

"I really don't feel like fighting anymore."

"I don't either. I just want to talk."

"Okay," Guthrie said, sounding wary. "Come on in."

I stepped into the room, and closed the door behind me, leaning against it.

`"I shouldn't have needled you like I did this afternoon, or poked you. I'm sorry."

Guthrie looked somewhat stunned by my apology.

"I guess I got kind of carried away, too," he said.

"I don't like Megan," I said slowly, "but from now on I'm going to keep my comments

and opinions about her to myself." At Guthrie's startled look, I added, "At least I'll try

to."

A glimmer of a smile lurked at the corner of Guthrie's mouth.

"Yeah? For real?"

"Yeah."

"How come?" he asked then.

"What do you mean?"

"How come you decided that?"

"Well, something Adam said got me to thinking."

"Yeah. He tends to say things that make a person think. What'd he say this time?"

"That there shouldn't be anything big enough to make us stop being friends."

"Huh," Guthrie said, looking thoughtful, and tossing the baseball back and forth between his hands, "I

guess that's right."

"Okay, then," I said, easing back and opening the door again. "I'll see you later."

"Okay. But, hey, Har, I don't like Seth, either. But I don't think I can keep quiet about

it, if you want to hang out with him."

"I'm not going to date him. Adam says I can't, because of what you said about him."

"Alright, but I'm serious, he really is a bad guy. Remember when Kristin Atherton had

that black eye last year?" he said, mentioning a girl who'd been a freshman at the same

time as me.

"Yeah," I said, remembering that Kristin hadn't wanted to talk about what had happened.

"Everybody thought her stepfather did it, and she would never say."

"It wasn't her stepfather. It was Seth." Guthrie looked grim, and the muscles at the

sides of his jaw were working in and out.

I came back in, and shut the door behind me again, looking wide-eyed at Guthrie.

"Why would Seth do something like that? And why wouldn't Kristin tell the sheriff or somebody?"

"He did it, because he's an ass. He bragged about it for days afterward. He gets a charge out of

getting rough with girls. He even admits that."

"But, why wouldn't she tell somebody-"

"He told her if she said anything, that he'd tell all the guys some perverted stuff about

her."

"What about her family, though? When they saw her eye?"

"Probably nobody at her house gives a damn. Her mom drinks a lot, and her stepfather's

a real ass."

"What about Buddy, though?" I asked, talking about Kristin's older brother, who was

Evan's age. "Why wouldn't he help her, and do something?"

"Not every older brother is like what we have, Har," Guthrie said. "Some of them

don't give a rip about their younger siblings or what happens to them."

I was silent for several long moments, remembering what had happened when Guthrie,

Ford and Evan had tracked Charles down at college, and how Ford and Evan basically

kicked Todd Roy's butt because he got a little rough with me. I couldn't imagine what any of

them, or Daniel, Crane, Brian or Adam would do if a boy ever gave me a black eye.

I suddenly felt really sorry for Kristin. It must be awful to not have anyone looking out

for you, or caring about the things that hurt you.

"Wow," I said. It was all I could think of to say.

"Yeah," Guthrie said, tossing the ball from hand to hand again.

"Why didn't you just tell me this, instead of saying all that stuff about how he doesn't

do the science lab work?"

"Well, he doesn't do the work, but I never said anything about Kristin or any of the other

girls he's roughed up, because I never thought you'd get all cozy with him."

"I wasn't getting cozy with him," I protested. " I just rode home with him one time. And I wouldn't have

done that if I'd known about this stuff."

"You were pretty darn friendly with him. He's going to think you're interested in him now."

I wanted to grit my teeth in irritation, but instead I closed my eyes, and muttered,

"Concern. He's concerned," remembering Kristin and the lack of brotherly concern in her

life.

"Huh?" Guthrie asked me.

"Nothing." I opened the door yet again. "I'll tell him tomorrow that I'm not going to the

dance with him."

"What?! I didn't know he asked you to that!" Guthrie expostulated.

"Don't get tense, Guthrie. I'll take care of it."

"Yeah. Okay. Let me know if you need help."

"Okay. Night, Guth."

"Hey," he said, halting me again.

"What?"

"I didn't mean it when I said I was tired of you riding with me. You know?"

"I know." I gave him a grin. "But you know what?"

"What?"

" I DID mean it when I said I was tired of watching you and Megan suck face."

Guthrie aimed a pillow at me, and I shut the door behind me, smiling as I went

down the hall to my own room.

7

The next morning at breakfast, Guthrie and I actually carried on a conversation

with each other, and when we were putting our dishes in the sink, there was some

playful scuffling and shoving between us. We turned from the sink to find the entire

family watching us with interest, relief, and in Hannah's case, a little tearfulness.

"What's going on?" Guthrie asked.

"Just nice to see you two acting decent to each other again," Adam said.

"Yeah. I was about ready to take you both to the barn and knock your heads

together," Brian said, with his customary bluntness.

"Don't cry, Hannah," Guthrie said, stopping beside her chair, and squeezing her hand.

"It's pure gladness, Guth," Hannah told him. "I don't like seeing my babies at odds with

one another."

"This family is truly amazing," Clare said, from her spot at the table. She even

looked relieved, and I realized that Guthrie and I's several week feud had been

a strain for everybody.

"So you still think I'm amazing, even after almost four months of matrimony?" Brian

asked Clare.

"I said the FAMILY was amazing," Clare said in clarification, looking at Brian out of

the corner of her eye, with a smile.

"Oh, yeah?" he countered.

"That's right, cowboy," she said, tartly, and Brian scooped her up out of her chair,

and sat her on his lap, kissing her, right there at the table, in front of everyone.

"How's that for amazing?" he demanded.

Clare's pretty face was lit up and she ran a hand thru Brian's dark hair.

"Totally amazing," she said, and Evan groaned.

"Seriously, you two, some of us are trying to eat, here."

I giggled, and Guthrie punched my arm. "Let's go," he said, and we headed

out to his truck to go to school.

7

please leave reviews, and thanks to all the loyal readers of this story. !


	10. Crane's the chef for the supper guest

I didn't have to wait long for my first interaction with Seth to occur. Shortly after we got

to school, as Guthrie and I parted ways inside the front door, with a casual,

"See you," to each other, I could see Seth up ahead, leaning against my locker,

as if he was waiting for me.

"Oh, boy," I said, to myself.

"Hey, pretty girl," he greeted me, with a slow smile.

"Hi."

"So, I was wondering, if tonight after school, if you wanted to take a ride with me."

I knew I should give him a short and curt No! But I was a little curious as to how far

Seth would carry this charming act. I decided to have a little fun, and play a few mind games

of my own on Mr. Seth.

"Like where?" I asked, opening my locker and exchanging my math books for my English.

"Like wherever the road takes us." He leaned in closer to me. "Maybe up to the state park."

"Why there?"

"It's nice and private up there. I can score some beer, and we can talk."

"Talk, huh?" I said. " Like about what all we have in common, you mean?"

Seth frowned a little, and had a puzzled look on his face.

"Well, yeah, sure," he said finally, with a return of his white-teethed smile.

I smiled at him coquettishly, and shut my locker door.

"Well," I said, slowly, "it's such a long way up there."

"Well, somewhere else, then," he said eagerly, obviously mistaking my comment

for agreement to be alone with him.

I knew I shouldn't, but I was kind of enjoying yanking Seth's chain.

"Maybe my house?" I asked, deliberately baiting him.

"Well, won't your family be around?" he asked.

"Oh," I said, managing to act disappointed. "I guess that's right." I looked down at

my fingernails on one hand. "There's so MANY of them, too. You know? There's

Adam, and Brian, and Crane, and Evan and-"

"Yeah," he interrupted, looking impatient. "Let's go somewhere where we can be alone."

I managed to achieve what I thought to be a shy expression.

"I don't know you very well, though," I said vaguely. "I mean-, well, you know,

how do I know you're a nice guy?"

"Pretty girl, I just want a chance to show you how nice I can be."

Holy smokes. It was, as my brothers would say, getting deep in here.

"I'll have to think about it," I said, acting hesitant. "I just can't think of a good

place."

"Okay, I'll look for you at lunch."

"Oh, I sit with my friends at lunch," I said.

"I'm your friend, ain't I?" he asked, leaning even closer, and brushing his lips

across my cheek, reaching the corner of my mouth.

I stepped back as if I'd been burned. It was all I needed for Guthrie to see something

like that! Just when we were working things out between us.

Instead of Guthrie, though, it was Mr. Best, the assistant principal, standing nearby

frowning at us.

"Time to get to class, Harlie," he said, disapprovingly.

"Yes, sir," I said, and when he'd walked away, Seth muttered an obscenity.

"So, lunch, then," he said, making it a statement and not a question.

"I can't talk at lunch," I said.

"Okay, I'll see you after school. We'll decide then where we're going."

The late bell was ringing, and I realized that I'd played my game with Seth

until it was too late now to tell him he was a black-hearted bastard.

"I don't think-" I began.

"Let me do the thinkin' for both of us, pretty girl," he said, and sauntered away

down the hall with a swagger.

"Oh, boy," I muttered to myself again.

7

At lunchtime I sought Kristin Atherton out. She tended to be a loner, and stick to

herself.

"Hi," I greeted her.

"Oh, hi," she said, looking up with a startled expression.

"I was wondering if you wanted to sit with a group of us girls for lunch."

An eager look lit up Kristin's face, but then it was quickly replaced by

the timid, deer in the headlight look in her eyes.

"No, thanks. I have to read this for English," she said.

I looked at her book, and nodded. "I'm reading that, too. We'll have time

to read after lunch. Please eat with us."

"Okay," Kristin said, and walked with me to the table where Lori and Chelsea were

already sitting. They both said hello to Kristin, and we all started eating, except for

Kristin, who didn't have a lunch. Chelsea and Lori were eating school lunches, but

I'd brought my lunch from home, so I offered some to Kristin.

"No, thanks," she said.

"It's alright, Hannah always packs too much," I assured her, and she took a couple

cookies I offered her with a quiet, "Thank you."

"These are really good," she said.

"Hannah makes the best cookies," I said.

"I've met her at Marie's. She seems nice."

"She is."

"Hannah's great," Lori agreed.

"Was Hannah working when you saw her at Marie's?" I asked. Hannah hasn't worked

at the café since she got pregnant.

"Yes. I was working that day, too."

"You work at Marie's?" I asked.

"Sometimes."

I was curious, but I didn't want to be too pushy.

"Hannah's going to have a baby," I told Kristin.

"Marie told me. That's good, right?"

I was going to laugh, but I realized Kristin was seriously asking if Hannah expecting a baby

was a good thing or not.

"Yeah. It's great. We're all really excited."

After that, our conversation was just girl talk, complaints about the new history teacher,

that sort of thing. Kristin seemed to loosen up and enjoy herself, though she was still quiet.

I watched her, trying to do it without being obvious. She was really pretty, but she

looked sort of-worn down, I guess is the word I was looking for. She was even

prettier when she smiled. Which wasn't often, I realized.

As we all headed back to class, I asked Kristin if she wanted to come home with me

after school to eat supper with us.

She looked at me, her big brown eyes widening in surprise. "Really?"

"Sure. One of my brothers will drive you home later. Evan or Crane probably."

Her eyes turned wary. "Oh. I don't know them," she said uncertainly.

I remembered what Guthrie had told me about how Seth had treated her, and

realized she was most likely wary of guys.

"I'll ride along, too," I said, trying to sound casual.

"Oh. Okay," Kristin said, looking relieved. "Well, sure, I'd like to. If you're sure

Hannah and your brothers won't mind."

"Heck, no! Hannah loves company, and my brothers won't care."

"Alright. Thanks."

"Do you need to call home for permission? Maybe you could use the office phone."

"Oh, no, I don't need to call anybody," she said.

I thought that was sort of odd, but it was time to go to class, so we said goodbye,

and I was feeling pretty good the rest of the afternoon. Guthrie and I were patching

things up, and I might have a new friend in Kristin. I felt good, right up until the end

of the day, when I was closing my locker after getting all the books I needed for homework

that night. My good feelings vanished when Seth came walking towards me again.

"Hey, pretty girl."

I sighed. I was already tired of him.

"I can't ride with you anywhere today," I said.

"Hey, why not? I called my brother, and he's going to meet up with us, to

give us the beer."

"You used the school office phone to call your brother for beer?" I asked, staring at

him incredulously.

"Well, I didn't have to say it like that. He knew what I meant. My brother's smart like

that."

"He sounds like a lovely person," I said, with sarcasm, but I guess Guthrie was right

about Seth not being very bright, because he nodded, as if I'd meant what I said.

"Yeah. He's great. So why can't you go?"

"Because," I clutched my books tight against my chest, and stared up at him.

"Cause why?"

"Because my brother says I'm not allowed to date you. That's why."

"How come?"

"He heard from someone that you're a low-life piece of trash," I said calmly,

as if I was sharing the weather forecast.

Seth looked confused. "Huh?"

"He heard you're scum. Trash. A real bastard. So I can't ride with you today,

or tomorrow or any other day."

"I don't know who's talkin' about me, but it ain't right," Seth said, angrily.

"What's not right? That you're scum? That you're trash? Or that you're a

bastard?"

"None of it's right! I swear, I'm a good guy, pretty girl!"

I started walking out of the school, hoping he would take the hint, but

Seth tagged after me.

"Can I call you tonight?"

"I don't see any point to that," I said crisply, and when I saw Kristin just ahead a little

bit, I said, "Goodbye, Seth," and walked even faster. I'd hoped that Kristin wouldn't notice

who I'd been talking to, but she had, because she had a funny look on her face.

"Hi," I said. "Ready to go?"

"Yes." She hesitated. "Harlie, I hope you don't mind me asking you, but are you

dating Seth?"

"No."

"Oh. Well, that's good. I mean, he's not really a very nice guy."

I reached out to squeeze her arm. "I know. He's a jerk. Even before I knew that for

sure, though, my brother told me I wasn't allowed to date him."

"Oh. I used to go out with him, I don't know if you knew that-"

"It doesn't matter. We're neither one going to have a thing to do with his sorry butt from now

on, right?" I linked my arm in hers.

"Right," she said, and gave me a genuine smile.

When we met Guthrie at the truck, Megan, of course, was there, too.

"Kristin's coming home with us to supper," I announced, and Guthrie looked

surprised for a minute, but then he recovered his customary McFadden good manners.

"Oh, okay, that's great," he said. "Hi, Kristin."

"Hi, Guthrie. Hi, Megan," Kristin said.

Megan did not look pleased. "Well, hello there, Kristin," she said, in her syrupy southern

drawl. It was a tight squeeze in the truck, with the four of us. I didn't mind, and it didn't

seem to bother Kristin, but Megan was definitely bothered by it. She kept groaning,

and saying things like, 'It's a good thing that I'm so skinny', and 'Maybe you should have

gotten a car instead of a truck, Guthrie'.

I wanted to tell her to shut up, or something else equally rude, but I remembered

my promise to Guthrie, and I didn't want to make Kristin feel bad, so I kept quiet, only

nudging Kristin in the ribs, and then rolling my eyes towards Megan.

When we got to Megan's house, Guthrie, as usual, walked her to the door. They

exchanged a couple of quick kisses, but nothing like the regular routine. I could see

Megan talking earnestly to Guthrie, and it was obvious to anyone watching that she

was ticked about something.

I took the opportunity without Guthrie present to say, "Don't think anything about

Megan. She's always like this. She wants Guthrie all to herself, all the time."

"Oh."

"She's a real pain in the rear end, but I promised Guthrie I would be nicer about

her."

"She sure is pretty."

"It's a good thing, too, cause she needs something to hide the bitch underneath," I said,

and Kristin looked at me with a shocked expression, and then we both dissolved

into giggles.

When Guthrie climbed back into the truck, that's how he found us, doubled

over with laughter.

"I probably don't want to know what you two are laughing about, do I?" he asked,

and we laughed harder.

"Nope," I said.

"Probably not," Kristin said, and Guthrie shook his head.

"Women!" he proclaimed, but he smiled, too, so Kristin would know he was joking.

7777777

When we got home, and climbed out of the truck, I pulled Kristin towards

the house.

"Come in and say hi to Hannah," I told her, "and then I have to do my chores."

"What are your chores?"

"My outside chores? I feed the chickens usually, and then the goats. I check on my

horse, and then if Adam or Brian say there's nothing else, I go in and help Hannah get

supper ready. Unless Clare's home, and then she'll help Hannah, cause she's trying to learn

to cook. Sometimes that's when I do my homework."

"Who's Clare?" Kristin asked, looking a little overwhelmed.

"Clare's married to Brian. They got married in June. She's about to finish her

nursing classes."

We went into the living room, and I tossed my books on the couch, and told

Kristin to do the same.

"She's probably in the kitchen," I said.

Hannah had her hands in bread dough, rolling and kneading, when we came

into the kitchen. She looked up with a smile.

"Hi."

"Hi, Hannah. Kristin says you two have met before."

"At Marie's, right?" Hannah asked.

When Kristin nodded, Hannah said, "It's good to see you again."

"It's good to see you, too."

"I asked Kristin to supper," I said.

"Well, good. We're having stew tonight. Crane's cooking. And homemade

rolls." She nodded towards the dough in front of her.

At that moment, Crane came around the corner from the pantry, wearing

a purple apron with little yellow flowers on it, over his jeans.

"Hey, peanut," he greeted me. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Kristin," I said, "and Kristin, this is Crane."

Kristin seemed a little awestruck, but she managed a polite, "Hello."

"Hi, Kristin," Crane said, and smiled. "It's nice to meet you."

"Thank you. I mean, it's nice to meet you, too."

"Kristin's staying for supper," I told Crane.

"Cool. I'm the chef tonight," Crane told her. "I hope that doesn't scare you away."

Kristin shook her head. "I'm sure it will be good."

"I like this girl," he said, and smiled at us both again.

We went upstairs so I could change to my old jeans, and Kristin said,

"Crane seems really nice."

"He is. He's one of the nicest people I know."

"He looks funny in that apron." Then embarrassed, she said quickly, "I mean, well,

you know-"

I just laughed. "Yeah, Crane's a goofball."

"There's seven brothers, right?"

"Yep. But two won't be here tonight. Ford's at college. You remember him, right?"

"Yeah, I remember him. He's nice, too."

"Yeah. Him and Crane are the sweet McFaddens."

Kristin giggled.

"And Daniel's not here. He's in Nashville."

"Really? Wow."

"Yeah," I said proudly, "he's already sold one of his songs. He's coming home for a

visit in a week or so, though."

Kristin tagged after me as I went out to do my chores. She even wanted to help

feed the goats.

"They're so soft," she said, reaching out to touch one.

"That's Elwood."

"Elwood? That's funny."

"Elwood P. Dowd. Have you ever seen that old movie, Harvey? Where the guy

sees the six foot white rabbit, but nobody else can see him?"

"I've never seen that. It sounds funny."

"It is. We'll have to watch it sometime."

After the goats, I took Kristin to meet Petra.

I showed her how to feed Petra an apple. "Just hold your hand really flat, like this."

When we went back towards the barn, we met Brian and Adam coming out.

I introduced Kristin to them, and then we went to the house.

We washed our hands, and then sat down in the living room on the floor to work

on our homework.

"Which brother said you couldn't date Seth?" Kristin asked, sounding curious.

"Adam."

"I wish I'd had someone to warn me off before I got involved with him," she said, sounding wistful.

"None of my brothers would have liked him, anyway." I said. They would have said

he was too cocky. Daniel or Evan would say he was a prick."

"They would have been right about that," she said, and when I grinned at

her she looked surprised.

"What?" she asked.

"You sound pretty spunky right there. Good for you."

Kristin smiled back.

"Yeah. Good for me."

7

Thank you, faithful reviewers!


	11. A lucky girl

Crane's stew and Hannah's rolls turned out really well. I made Koolaid and that's what

Guthrie, Kristin and I drank with our meal.

Guthrie sat across the table, and gave Kristin his usual chair, so she could sit next

to me. During the meal, Evan told some rodeo stories, and Crane and Brian told jokes. Kristin seemed to enjoy herself, too.

After supper, Hannah told us to go have fun for awhile, so we went outside, and climbed

up in the hayloft, taking turns swinging out on the rope, and landing in the hay.

After a few turns each, we flopped down in the hay, and talked.

"This is so much fun," Kristin said.

"If some of the girls at school saw us like this, all messed up, with hay all over us, they'd

think we were crazy," I said.

"Yeah, probably they would."

After a couple of minutes, she said, "You don't much care what other people think, do you,

Harlie?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you seem -so strong, I mean. And confident."

I thought for a minute. "I don't know about that. I don't feel all that confident a lot of the

time."

"You seem like you do. I wish I was strong."

"I'll bet you're stronger than you think you are."

"I don't know," she said, sounding uncertain.

"You have to believe in yourself, and know that you're worth being treated well," I said.

"See?" she said. "That's what I mean. You just sound so sure about things."

"Years of being lectured to by older brothers probably caused that," I said ruefully.

"I wish my dad was still around. Maybe things would have been different for me-better."

"What happened to your dad?" I asked curiously.

"He died when I was ten. He had cancer." She talked about that for a few minutes,

and then said, " My mom got married again pretty quickly after that, and

then we moved here last year. My dad was real nice."

"And your stepfather?" I asked, not certain if I was being too inquisitive. "Do you like

him?"

"No, not really," Kristin said quietly. "He doesn't really say a whole lot to me. Him and

my mom fight a lot. Especially after he drinks. Which is most of the time."

"I'm sorry," I said, not sure what else to say.

"Anyway, it sure was great being here tonight. I really like your family. I liked Hannah already,

but I'm glad I got to meet the rest of them."

"Maybe you can meet Daniel sometime, too. He's lots of fun."

"I'd like to." She looked thoughtful for a minute. "Is Adam sort of like a dad to you

and Guthrie?"

"Well, yeah. And Brian and Crane are, too. But Adam fills the spot pretty good."

"He seems sort of," she hesitated, "sort of steady. Like you could count on him."

I thought how well she'd managed to sum Adam up in just the short time she'd been

around him.

"That's Adam, alright," I agreed. "He never lets us down."

"You're really lucky, Harlie."

We were interrupted by Guthrie, who'd climbed up into the loft without us seeing him,

and was dropping armfuls of hay down on top of us.

"Hey!" I yelled, as Kristin and I both looked up to see Guthrie's head with a wide grin

looking thru the hayloft opening.

"Move out of the way," Guthrie ordered us. "I'll show you two how to get down from

here with style."

"Ooo, big talker," I said, but Kristin and I got up accommodatingly and watched as

Guthrie swung off the rope, and turned a somersault in mid-air, before he

landed on the pile of hay.

I'd seen Guthrie do that a million times in my life, so I faked a wide yawn, like I was

bored. Kristin, however, was looking properly impressed.

"Wow," she said, and Guthrie grinned even bigger at her.

"I'll do two somersaults this time," he said.

"You can't really, can you?" Kristin asked, in disbelief.

"Sure," Guthrie said, and climbed back up the ladder.

I would have told Guthrie to quit showing off, but I was glad he was joining in and

having fun with us. It was like having the old Guthrie back again.

Guthrie did his two-somersault descent, and then Kristin and I both jumped again.

We were having so much fun that when Crane walked in we hardly noticed him.

"Alright, you monkeys," he said. "Time to break up the party. Kristin, I'm your elected

taxicab driver to take you home."

"Ok," Kristin said, and we scrambled to get up. Kristin went to get her backpack

and said her goodbyes to Adam and Hannah.

"Thank you for letting me come over," she said, and Hannah smiled.

"It was wonderful to see you again," she told Kristin.

"You come back anytime, alright?" Adam said.

Kristin's cheeks turned a faint pink. "Thank you."

"She's coming over again when Daniel comes home," I added.

"Good," Adam said.

We climbed into the Jeep and Crane drove into Murphys. Kristin told him which street

to turn on, and when we pulled up into the trailer park, and stopped in front of the mobile

home Kristin pointed out, it was totally dark within.

"Anybody home?" Crane asked her.

"Probably not. The car's gone. Mom's probably with Frank."

"Well, you go check," Crane told her.

Kristin looked surprised, but did as he said. When she went up on the porch, she

jiggled the doorknob, and then came back to the Jeep.

"They're not home yet."

"Don't you have a key?" I asked.

"I did, but Frank lost his, so he borrowed mine last week. He hasn't given it back yet."

Kristin looked a little embarrassed, and I looked at Crane.

"Well, climb back in," Crane said. "We'll wait with you till your mom gets here."

"Oh, no, you don't have to do that!" Kristin protested. " They'll be along soon! I can wait on the porch."

"It's going to be getting dark soon. I'm not going to leave you sitting on a porch," Crane

said.

"It will be fine-I do it all the time," Kristin told him, and I saw something flash in

Crane's eyes, and then quickly disappear.

"Well, tonight you're not," he said, sounding so firm that Kristin looked at him, wide-eyed.

"Climb back in," he said, and when she had, he turned to both of us.

"Do you two think you're hungry enough for ice cream?" he asked us.

We agreed that we did, indeed, think we were hungry enough to manage some

ice cream. Crane drove to the drive-in, and we ordered chocolate shakes, and then

drove back to Kristin's house, where we sat in the Jeep and passed the time by talking about school, and Crane told us about

some of the teachers he'd had in high school.

We waited probably close to an hour before a car's lights pulled up beside us in the dusk.

With only the headlights from the car to see by, it was hard to make out much about

Kristin's mom and stepfather. Especially Frank, as he said, "How you doin'?" and went on

inside, stumbling a little.

"I'm Crane McFadden," Crane said, holding out a hand. "We sure enjoyed having

Kristin over for supper tonight."

Kristin's mother took the hand Crane offered. "Well, thank you-" she said. "I thought

you had your key, honey," she said to Kristin.

"No, mom," Kristin said quietly.

"Oh. Well thank you for bringing her home," her mother said.

"Sure. I was glad to do it," Crane said. "Goodbye, Kristin."

"Bye. I'll see you at school, Harlie."

"Okay. See you tomorrow," I told her.

7

As we drove out of Murphys, heading out on the lonely stretch of road leading home, Crane and I

were both quiet in the darkness of the Jeep's interior.

I broke the silence when I said, "The temperature's dropping, isn't it?"

"Feels like it," Crane agreed.

"I still have homework to do," I sighed.

"Math?"

"Yeah. And a English vocab paper. Will you help me with the math?"

"I suppose so."

"There's something I've been meaning to talk to you about."

"What?"

"I've been talking to Mrs. Fisher, and she says that since I've carried a steady A

average in advanced English so far, that next semester I might be able to take

Senior level English."

"Finish Senior English in one semester?"

"Yeah. She thinks I can do it. And then next year I could take a college English

class, and get that out of the way."

"You've been doing some thinking, it sounds like."

"Yes, I've been thinking for awhile now about it."

"Hmm," Crane said, like he was considering something.

"Ford said you'd think it was a great idea."

"Ford said that, did he?"

"You mean you don't think it's okay? You don't think I can do it?" I asked, disappointed. I

would need Crane's support before Adam would agree.

"Well, I haven't said any of that, have I?"

"No. Sorry."

"It'd be a lot of work. You wouldn't have time for much else."

"I know. I'm ready to work hard."

"Okay."

"You'll go to bat for me with Adam?"

"You promise to give it a hundred percent of your effort?"

"I promise."

"Alright. I'll go to bat for you."

"Thanks, Crane! I won't let you down."

"Okay."

"The more classes I get out of the way in high school, the less money it will cost for me to

go to college. The classes are cheaper if I do it now. It'll be easier on the family that way."

"It's sweet of you to worry, but the money will be there for you to go to school on."

"I think I'll have the money for the English class next fall, but if I don't, will you help me out? I'll

pay you back."

"Yes, I'll help you. And if you carry a B or A, you don't have to pay me back."

"Really? Thanks!"

"You're welcome."

I thought for a few minutes and then said, "Crane?"

"What?"

"It looked to me like Kristin's stepdad had been drinking."

"Looked like it."

"He's not a nice guy."

"There's no law against a man having a few drinks, peanut."

Since all my brothers except Guthrie like to drink sometimes, I knew what Crane meant.

"I know. But Kristin said that he drinks and then fights a lot with her mom."

"That's rough," Crane said, sounding serious and sad.

"Guthrie says her mom drinks a lot, too. I'm not sure about that part, though."

Crane didn't say anything, and I talked on.

"Kristin says her dad was a really nice guy. A good dad."

"Hmmm."

"Thanks for staying around tonight. And for not letting her sit on the porch to wait alone. That was

really cool of you."

"I wouldn't want you sitting alone like that," he said.

"I know. You know what? She didn't even have to ask permission or tell anybody where she was

today."

"Huh. Well, I think she needs a friend pretty badly."

"I wish I'd tried to be friends with her before now."

"You're doing it now. That's what's important."

Crane reached over and squeezed my hand.

After that, we started talking about school again, and how difficult I was finding sophomore

Algebra.

7

At home again, Crane helped me struggle through my math. Math really frustrates me, and even

though he never actually gives me the answers, it always goes a lot quicker and easier when

Crane helps. Finally, I snapped the book shut with satisfaction.

"Thank goodness gosh!" I said in relief.

"What about the English worksheet thing?" he reminded me.

"Oh that," I waved my hand. "I can finish that in the morning, easy peasy."

I went to find Adam and Hannah to say goodnight. Adam was in the kitchen,

making hot chocolate on the stove.

"Hi," I greeted him.

"Hey."

"Where's Hannah?"

"In bed already."

I went to lean against the counter beside the stove.

"She sure does get tired a lot now."

Adam heard the worry in my voice, because he said,

"It's alright, Harlie. It's pretty normal."

"I know that's what the books say, but-"

"It's right, sugar. The doctor says so."

"Okay."

I watched him as he added more milk to the pan.

"Want some?" he offered.

"No, thanks. Crane bought Kristin and me chocolate shakes. I'm still full."

"Okay," he said, and laughed.

He turned the stove off, and poured some into a cup.

"I kind of want to say something," I told him.

"Okay," he said, looking at me.

"I don't tell you enough, that I know how much you do for all of us, especially me and

Guthrie. You're always there for me, and I appreciate it."

Adam was looking at me with a funny look on his face, sort of a surprised look.

"Well, thank you," he said finally.

"It's okay. I should say it to you more often. I know sometimes I'm a royal pain, but I just

wanted to tell you that I know how lucky I am to have you."

Adam set the cup of hot chocolate down on the counter, and put his hands on my shoulders,

pulling me closer to him.

"What's going on, sugar? Is something wrong?"

"No, it's just something Kristin said that got me to thinking." I suddenly felt emotional, and

looked up at him. "I love you, Adam."

Adam kissed the top of my head. "I love you, too," he said.

I laid my cheek on his chest. "I don't know what would happen to me if I didn't have you-"

"Hey," he said, trying to raise my chin.

I pressed myself tighter to his middle, and he sat down in a kitchen chair, pulling me down

to sit on his knee.

"Look at me, now," he ordered, and when I did, he said, "Nothing's going to happen to me."

"You don't really know that," I said. "Mama and Daddy probably thought that, too. And Kristin's

dad got sick, and it was a really long, slow battle for him with cancer-"

"Harlie Marie," he said, with authority, and I stopped rambling.

"You're right, about nobody knowing for certain what's going to happen to them. Even if something did

happen to me, you'd be taken care of. You'd have Brian and Crane and Hannah, and all the others."

"Yes," I said, and nodded. "I know. There's only one you, though."

"Well, I have every belief that I'll live to a ripe old age to drive you and all the rest of the babies crazy."

"Okay." I said, fervently. "I hope so."

Adam gave me a gentle push off his lap, and we both stood up. He retrieved his cup of hot chocolate,

and we went out of the kitchen, and he snapped off the light behind us.

The living room had only one lamp left on, and Adam left that on for Evan, who wasn't home yet.

We climbed the stairs together, and said goodnight in front of my bedroom door.

"It's late," he said. "I hope you're able to get up on time in the morning."

"I will," I promised.

"Thanks for the kudos tonight, sugar," he said, with a smile. "It's nice to hear."

"Goodnight," I said.

"Night. Sleep good."

7


	12. Foolproof plan

On the way to school the next morning, Guthrie reached into his pocket and pulled

out a pack of Juicy Fruit gum and offered me a piece.

I took a piece out and then handed the pack back to him. "Thanks."

"Yep."

He gave me a curious look.

"How come you invited Kristin over?"

"What do you mean?"

"You've never really hung out with her before. I was just wondering."

"Well," I said honestly, "I guess I just never thought about it before. She's usually so quiet,

and just there, you know? But after you told me what you told me about Seth and her, and her

mom and stepfather, and everything, I just decided to try to be friends with her."

"Oh."

"And you know what? I'm really glad you told me, because I found out Kristin's really

nice."

"That's good."

"Yep," I said, and looked out the window, chomping on my gum.

After a few minutes, Guthrie spoke up again. "What'd Seth say when you told him you can't

go out with him?"

"Oh, not much," I said vaguely, waving a hand. "Just that he's really a good guy, and that people

are lying about him."

Guthrie looked grim. "They're not lies! He's got some kind of nerve."

"Oh, for Pete's sake, don't get mad."

"He knows to leave you alone, though, right?"

I shrugged. "I guess."

"What do you mean, you guess? You have to tell him firm-like, so he knows you mean it."

"I can handle it."

"You didn't handle it all that great, if he still thinks he can sniff around you."

I felt myself starting to get mad.

"Don't start, Guthrie," I warned him.

"Don't start what?"

"Acting like I don't have any sense, or that I can't handle it on my own."

"I didn't say that."

"You don't have to say it. You ACT like it."

"Fine," he said shortly.

"Fine," I reiterated, and the rest of the ride was silent.

When we separated for the day at the doors of the school, we neither one said goodbye,

and I felt discouraged again, wondering if our exchange could count as an argument.

7

Kristin joined our group at lunch again, and I had the good fortune to avoid seeing Seth, until

the next to the last class of the day, when my good fortune ran out. He popped up so suddenly beside

me, walking down the stairs to the science room, that I was startled.

"Hey, pretty girl," he greeted me in his customary way.

"Hello, Seth," I said wearily.

"How about we ditch last hour and go for a drive?"

"I'm not cutting school," I said.

"Why not?"

I had no intention of explaining to Seth how angry Brian had been at me the one and only

time I'd left school last year. I wasn't going to repeat that mistake again.

"I'm just not."

"Okay. After school, then. Meet me at my truck."

"I told you yesterday I can't date you. My brother said-"

"So he doesn't have to know, does he?"

I stopped walking and looked up at him. "My brothers know everything. They'd find out."

Seth ran a finger down my face. "Then sneak out tonight. I'll wait for you at the end of your

driveway. I'll have you back before anybody even knows you were gone."

"I couldn't do that," I said, even as a plan was formulating in my mind.

"Sure, you can," he said.

"Well," I said, slowly, as if I was considering it, "there's something I need to know first, before

I consider sneaking out to meet you-"

"Sure, what do you want to know?" he said, so eagerly he was practically drooling.

"Did you used to date Kristin Atherton?" I asked, trying to appear hesitant and shy.

For a split second, Seth lost his smile, but it was quickly replaced.

"Sure, I took her out a few times. Why do you want to know?"

"Oh," I said, vaguely, "I just wondered..."

"Did she say somethin' about me? Cause she took it hard when I broke up with her. She's

probably still mad. She'd say anything to make me look bad."

"Oh. She would?"

"Yeah, definitely. You know how some chicks are. They just don't want to let go of a guy."

I felt my temper rearing up, and had to tamp it back down so I wouldn't give myself away.

"Hmmm," I said.

"So we on for tonight?"

"Well, I was thinking," I said slowly, " maybe my driveway isn't the best choice. You know that old road about

a half mile from my house? That old logging road? Maybe you should pull in there, and wait for me."

Seth agreed, with a nauseatingly quickness. "Sure thing," he said, and tried to back me up

against the wall.

"We'll have us a real good time," he said, his breath hot on my face.

"Oh, will we?" I asked.

"Uh huh," he said, muzzling my neck.

I was ready to shove, and slip out from under his arm, but before I could, I heard

Mr. Best's voice. "What's going on here?"

I froze, and Seth looked to the side. "I'd say it was fairly obvious what's goin' on," he said, sarcastically.

"Shut up," I hissed at him, and slid out to face Mr. Best.

"It's nothing," I said, trying to sound convincing.

"You go on to class," Mr. Best told Seth. Seth gave me a wink.

"Eleven. I'll be there," he said, and sauntered away, which left me there with a disturbed

looking assistant principal.

"Harlie, the late bell has already rang."

"Oh, I didn't hear it," I said.

"This is the second day you've been late to class because you were with Seth. Is this

going to become a habit?"

"No, definitely not," I said, biting my lip.

"Is there something you want to talk to me about? Or perhaps Adam, or Crane?"

I remembered suddenly with a sinking feeling, that Crane had gone to school with Mr. Best.

I could hardly explain that I was embroiled in playing an elaborate trick on Seth to Mr. Best. I

could only look at him pleadingly.

"No, sir, please! It won't happen again, I promise!"

He looked unconvinced. But all he said was, "Alright, Harlie. Please get to class. You'll have

to go and get a tardy pass."

"Yes, sir," I said, and made my escape.

7777777

On the ride home with Guthrie and Megan, I had every intent to keep quiet, and I would

have, too, until Megan spoke up.

"Everybody was just worried sick about you today when you were so late to biology, Harlie."

She managed to sound concerned, but I wasn't fooled for a minute.

"No need for anybody to worry," I said shortly.

"Was everything alright? There's nothing wrong, I hope?"

"Nothing's wrong. Don't waste your concern, Megan."

"Everybody just couldn't figure out where you were, then one of the girls mentioned you

were talking with Seth-"

I shot her a glare to shut up, but Guthrie, who up to now hadn't seemed to be paying much

attention to the conversation, suddenly leaned forward around Megan.

"What?!" he said, in an almost yell.

"It's nothing, Guthrie."

"It doesn't sound like nothing! Harlie, you promised-"

"We can talk about it later," I said, determined not to talk anymore in front of Megan, who

now was smiling a self-satisfied smirk.

"You're darn right we will," Guthrie said, and I didn't miss the way his hands tightened

on the steering wheel.

At Megan's house, she climbed out with her customary grace, turning back to say,

"You have a good evenin', now, Harlie."

She knew very well that Guthrie was going to ream me, but I gave her a cool look.

"Well, you have a good evenin', too, Megan," I said, mimicking her southern drawl.

"Now, Harlie, be nice," she said so low that I doubted if Guthrie heard her, standing outside

the cab of the truck.

"I will be if you will be," I said, just as quietly.

When Guthrie came back from walking her to the door, and climbed back into

the truck, he slammed the door extra hard, and put the truck in gear, his tires throwing

gravel.

"I can't believe you," he said, sounding disgusted.

"That's right, just go along with whatever Megan says," I returned. "Don't bother to

listen to me."

"Well, tell me, then! Were you late because you were talking to Seth?"

"Yes, but it wasn't like that. I'm going to play a trick on him. Get even with him

for what he's done to Kristin."

"What kind of trick?"

I hesitated. There was a time when I wouldn't have thought a thing about sharing with

Guthrie what I was going to do. But I wasn't so sure, now.

"A good trick, to teach him a lesson. Do you want to help me?"

"I have to know what it is, first."

"If it's a trick on him, why won't you just say you'll help? You hate him."

"Because I don't know what you're thinkin', that's why. I bet it's something that's going

to get you into trouble."

"No way. It's a foolproof plan."

"Your plans are never foolproof," he said.

"Okay," I said, "if you don't want to know..."

"Just tell me."

"Will you promise to help me?"

"No."

"Then I'm not going to tell you."

"Fine."

When we pulled up in front of the house, we saw Crane standing on the front porch,

leaning against one of the porch columns. His arms were crossed, and he looked as though

he was waiting for something.

Or SOMEONE.

I suddenly had a panicked feeling.

"Crane looks mad," Guthrie volunteered.

"Uh huh," I said, sitting still as Guthrie gathered up his math book and got out.

"Come on," he said.

"I think I'll just sit here awhile."

"Huh?"

"Nothing. Just go, Guthrie."

Guthrie slammed the door shut, and went on towards the house. He stopped to talk to Crane

for a minute before he went on inside. I sat for a few more minutes, just waiting and watching.

Crane never moved at all, though. He just stood there, waiting.

I sighed, and got out, picking up my books and notebook. I didn't drag my feet exactly, but I

didn't walk fast, either.

"Hi, Crane," I said, when I reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Hi, yourself."

"Did you have a good day?" I asked.

"It was alright. How about you?"

"I've had better days." I sighed, suddenly tired. "You look mad."

"Do I?"

"Yes. Are you?"

"Well, I'm not sure. I know we need to talk."

"You got a phone call, right?"

"Right." Crane sat down on the top step. "Sit down here," he said, pointing to the

spot beside him.

After I sat down, Crane said, "Pete says you were late to class twice this week. What's

up with that?"

Why, or why, did my brothers have to know everybody and anybody in my life? I didn't know one

adult who hadn't been friends with, or gone to school with, or went drinking with, one or more of

my brothers.

"I was just late. I was talking to someone both times. It's not the worst thing in the world, Crane."

"I didn't say it was."

"It won't happen again. I promise."

"This person you were talking to? Pete seems a little concerned. Says it's a kid who's a known

troublemaker. Wouldn't be the same kid that Guthrie was all stirred up about a couple days ago, would

it?"

"Yes," I sighed. "It's the same one."

Crane didn't say anything else, he just kept giving me the same steady look.

"I wasn't talking to him because I'm interested in him. I'm just getting rid of him. You know."

"It shouldn't take very much for that. Two words. Get lost."

"You're right."

"You won't be late to class anymore, right?"

"Right."

"And you say 'take a hike' to this Seth kid, and that's it. Capiche?"

"Yes, Crane."

"Okay."

He stood up, sticking his hands in the pockets of his jeans.

7

After I said hello to Hannah and changed to my old clothes, I went out to do my chores.

I did some rooting around in the barn, and it was while I was doing that, looking on the shelves, that

I was startled by Evan coming up behind me.

"What you lookin' for?" he asked, and I jumped.

"Gosh, Evan, make some noise next time, okay? You scared me."

"Sorry," he grinned.

"It's okay." I wiped my dusty hands on my jeans. "Do you know where that box of nails is?"

"What box of nails?"

"The one that's been sitting on this shelf for a hundred years. Nobody's moved it in all that time,

but now it's gone."

"I haven't seen it. Why do you need nails for?"

"I just do. Do you know where there might be some more?"

"I think there's a few on the back porch where Brian was hanging that shelf."

"How many is a few?"

"I don't know. Four or five."

"I need more than that."

Evan tugged lightly on my braid. "Now you've got me curious. What are you doing? Building a

treehouse? Or maybe a bridge?"

I eyed him, consideringly. "I'd tell you, but you can't tell anybody else."

"Top secret, huh?"

"Yeah. I could actually use some help. If I find the nails, will you drive me somewhere?"

"Where?"

"Not very far. Just a little ways. Please, Ev?"

"Well, what do you need the nails for? Tell me first."

I briefly explained my plan to him, and when I was done, Evan's face had a

shocked expression, and he was shaking his head.

"Now, Har, that's not a good idea. Not a good idea at ALL."

"Why not?"

"Well, because. That's intentional property damage."

"Nobody would know it was me. There's probably a bunch of nails on that road already."

"Harlie. Bad idea."

"I just want to teach Seth a lesson for being such a jerk."

"Maybe so. But how is it your problem to teach him this lesson? You just need to get shed

of him and let him be somebody else's problem."

"Evvvvan," I protested.

"Just forget about it. I'm not kidding."

He looked so serious that I knew he wasn't going to be my ally in this. He also might

spell trouble for me if he decided he should rat me out to Adam.

"Okay," I said, smiling at him disarmingly. "I guess it was a dumb idea."

"Yeah," Evan said, looking as if he wasn't quite sure whether to believe me or not.

"I guess I better get to my chores," I said, and Evan nodded.

"See you at supper," I said.

If it had been Daniel instead of Evan, he would have seen right thru me, but Evan's more easily

fooled. "Okay. See you," he said.

I watched Evan stride away, and then I went back to looking for the nails.

7

Review, please! thanks


	13. Nocturnal Nuisance

I did finally locate some nails. Not the box I was looking for originally, but another one that was shoved up

behind some tools, which had about thirty nails still in it. I put them in a empty feed sack, which

was the first thing I could find, and then rolled the sack way down. I set it inside the barn door, and

went to find Adam or Brian.

They were together, walking back up thru the pasture.

"It's pretty late in the year," Brian was saying.

"There's still time," Adam said.

I didn't know what they were talking about, and even though I was hesitant to interrupt

their conversation, I knew I didn't have much time. I needed to take care of my plan, then it'd be

time for supper, and then I had lots of homework to do. If I didn't go now, I might not get another

opportunity the rest of the evening.

"Umm, excuse me, guys?" I interrupted them.

They both stopped talking and looked at me.

"What?" Brian asked.

"I'm done with my chores. Can I take Petra for a quick ride?"

"It's almost time for supper," Adam said.

"I still have thirty minutes or so. Hannah just put the meatloaf in the oven not too long ago. I'll

make it quick."

"Alright," Adam said, and I made my exit.

I caught Petra, and went to saddle her, picking up the feed bag with the nails in it, and

holding it in front of me as I mounted Petra.

I purposely checked to see where Adam and Brian had gotten to, and when I spotted them,

walking towards the house, I waited until they went in, and then headed down the driveway.

When I reached the end of the driveway, I looked back up towards the house, and ran my

eyes over the pasture, checking to make sure no one was watching.

I didn't see anybody, so I rode on down the road until I came to the turnoff of the old logging road

just a half-mile or so from our driveway.

I hadn't been down here for a long time, and I was surprised by how overgrown with weeds it had

become. There were a lot of tree limbs broken off the trees, too.

I didn't ride in very far, maybe 500 feet or so, and then I got off of Petra, and, leaving her

ground-tied, I walked in a little further and emptied the sack of nails across the road.

I made sure to spread them in a concentrated area, and then walked back to Petra. When I rode

back into our driveway and towards the pasture to let Petra loose, Guthrie was cleaning the trash

out of his truck.

I saw him watching me, but I ignored him, unsaddling Petra and putting the saddle and bridle away. I

threw the empty feed sack back in the stack in the corner of the barn.

Petra waited at the gate for her customary treat of an apple, and I got one out of the bin, fed that to her, and then

started towards the house.

I was passing the front of Guthrie's truck, when he said quietly,

"Where'd you go?"

"Took Petra for a ride," I said shortly, still walking.

"What was the feed sack for?" he asked.

"What feed sack?"

"Don't play dumb with me. I saw you. You had a feed sack rolled up, and then you brought it back and put it in the barn."

I stopped walking, and put my hands on my hips, glaring at him. "You have WAY too much time on your

hands, Guthrie, if you have time to be spying on me."

"I wasn't spying. I just saw you, that's all."

"Don't worry about what I'm doing."

Something passed over Guthrie's face. "I do worry about you, though, Har. I can't help it." He looked

sad when he said it, too.

I stuck my hands in my jeans pockets. "Well, I worry about you, too."

For a long minute we stood there looking at each other, not saying anything.

"You've done somethin' crazy, haven't you?" he said, finally.

"I don't do crazy," I said, sounding flippant.

"What was the feed sack for?"

Honestly, sometimes Guthrie reminds me of a dog that doesn't want to let go of a bone.

"It was for nothing," I said.

"Okay, fine," he said, not sounding as if it was fine at all. "Don't tell me, then." He turned away from me,

and went back to stuffing candy wrappers into a garbage bag.

I stood there for a few seconds longer, to see if he started talking again, but he didn't, so

I went into the house, feeling kind of depressed. Going into the kitchen, I went to wash my hands

at the sink, working my way around people, jamming up the room.

"Is Guthrie coming in?" Hannah asked me.

I shrugged. "I don't know."

Hannah gave me a questioning look. She set the meatloaf in the center of the kitchen table,

and turned to Adam, taking off her oven mitt.

"Can you get Guthrie, please?"

"Yeah, sure," Adam said, and took a carrot stick to munch on, as he went out.

"How was your ride?" Brian asked me.

"Huh?"

"Didn't you go riding?"

"Oh. Yeah. It was good," I said vaguely, and slid into my seat at the table.

Guthrie came in and sat down in his chair, and thru the meal we didn't

really talk to each other. I guess Hannah sensed something, because

she looked at both of us and sighed.

"Not again," she said.

"What'd you say, hon?" Adam asked, from his end of the table.

"Nothing," Hannah told him.

At one point when the three different conversations at the table

got louder, Hannah said quietly, to Guthrie and I, "So you two aren't talking

again?"

Guthrie and I exchanged a look, and then by unspoken agreement,

Guthrie said, "Sure. We are. Aren't we, Har?"

"Sure," I agreed readily. "We talked so much on the way home today

that we're talked out. Right, Guth?"

"Sure thing," Guthrie said.

"Hmmm," Hannah said, looking thoughtful.

After supper Brian and Clare did the dishes, while everybody else

spread out over the living room.

I did my English homework first, and then asked Crane for help with

my math.

He put down his book, and looked at me over the top of his glasses.

"Come on," he said, and I grabbed my book and paper, and went to

sit beside him on the couch.

"Are you going to take Crane to college with you, Har, so he can

do your math for you there, too?" Evan asked, with a grin.

"Maybe," I said. "Besides, I'm going to be a veterinarian. What do

I need all this stupid math for?"

"For your information, Evan Robert, I don't do the math for her. I'm

strictly moral support," Crane spoke up.

"Ha! You give Harlie and Guthrie way more help than you did me and

Daniel," Evan answered.

Adam chuckled from his spot next to Hannah, and when Crane

gave him a look and said, "What?"

Adam said, "Evan's pretty much right about that, Crane."

"Is that so?" Crane asked, looking a little irritated.

I just wanted everybody to shut up so Crane wouldn't refuse to

help me. I gave him a pleading look.

"Can we go to the kitchen table?" I asked.

He got up and we went to the kitchen. It seemed to me that he

made me work harder to figure things out on my own, and I sighed

in frustration, after struggling with the same math problem for what seemed

like forever.

"Help me! Please!"

"You're really close to getting it," he said.

"No, I'm not! I can't do it!"

"Keep trying," he said, calmly.

"You listened to Evan and Adam, and now you won't help me," I complained.

"Oh, knock it off," he said, and tapped the notebook paper. "Get busy."

"I have a C- in math," I told him, "almost a D."

"Really? Huh." Crane reached over and took an apple from the fruit bowl,

looking unconcerned.

"Yes, really," I said, and was embarrassed when tears filled my eyes. "I'm

so stupid with math!"

"You're not stupid, not one bit. Math just happens to be harder for you. You

have strengths in other areas."

I shook my head, and rested my chin in my hands, discouraged.

Crane took a bite of his apple, and after a couple minutes of silence, he said,

"So, that's it? You're going to forget about taking senior English next semester? And college English next year? Forget

about being a vet, too?"

I raised up and looked at him, appalled. "No! I'm going to do all of that!"

"Well, you can't hardly, not if you fail sophomore math. No point in taking any advanced classes in English, or

trying to go to college if you're going to let a few algebra problems get the best of you."

Crane has a way of getting right to the heart of a matter, and making a person feel ashamed of being a whiner.

"Okay, Crane," I said.

"Okay, what?"

"Okay. You're right," I said, and bent my head down over my math paper again. After a few minutes of trying, I raised

my head to look at Crane, and held out the paper. "Is that right?" I asked him.

"Yep." He had a satisfied smile on his face.

I crossed my eyes and made a face at him. "Mr. Smarty Pants," I said.

"That's my name," he said. He tapped the next problem in the math book. "Let's go."

7777777

When I was done with my homework, I went to take a shower, and then I laid down on my bed to

read for awhile.

I fell asleep with my lamp on, and woke up to a pounding sound, and then foot steps going down the stairs,

and voices, in the hallway, and more walking in the hall. It didn't fully rouse me, until it didn't stop, and I

sat up, going to my door, and opening it, looking out into the hallway.

It looked like the whole house was awake. Evan and Guthrie were standing at the top of the stairs, and

Crane was going downstairs, in his bare feet. I could hear Adam's voice, already coming from downstairs, and

then Brian and Clare's attic ladder was creaking, coming down, and Brian descended from the ladder.

"What's going on?" he asked me, as he came past my doorway.

"I don't know," I said, and Brian asked Evan and Guthrie the same thing.

Guthrie shrugged in answer, and Evan said, "I dunno."

Brian went past them and on down the stairs. I stepped out into the hallway, and walked to the top of the stairs,

to stand beside Evan and Guthrie.

Adam's voice was clearer from here. "Harlie's in bed," he said, "and I'm sure as hell not going to get her up."

I felt my heart sink to my feet, and I leaned over the staircase, trying to peer around to see the front door.

"What do you want with Harlie?" Brian said, sounding angry.

"I wanna talk to her," a voice said, loudly and belligerently.

I clamped a hand over my mouth in horror. Seth!

"What's that son of a bitch doing here?" Guthrie said, turning on me.

"I don't know!" I said, but Guthrie snorted in what I assumed was disbelief.

"He's drunk off his ass," Guthrie said.

Brian started getting louder, telling Seth he better get to leaving, except the words he used were more

like 'You best get your sorry ass on home, boy,'.

"I need to talk to Harlie," Seth insisted.

"He is so damn stupid," Guthrie said, to no one in particular, and inside, I had to agree with him.

I mean, seriously, what kind of idiot teenage boy has three huge grown men facing him down and still keeps

on running his mouth? Drunk or not, that shows real stupidity.

I knew that if Seth turned loose with the news for my brothers that I was supposed to have met him

that night on the logging road, he wouldn't be the only one getting his butt kicked. I thought about running

and hiding in my room, and pretending to be asleep.

Crane said something I couldn't quite hear, and when Evan went down several more stairs, I followed. From this

vantage point, I could see Seth standing on the porch, in the front doorway.

"You're not goin' to see Harlie," Adam said, and I recognized that steely sound in his voice. To someone who didn't know

better, it would sound like a calm voice, but I knew that it meant he was hanging onto his temper by a thread.

I was leaning against Evan's shoulder, one step above him, and he turned to give me a look.

"Is this the kid you had the big 'lesson' planned for?" he said, in a loud whisper.

I didn't answer, just looked at him, and he turned his attention back to the scene below.

"Three of my tires are blown," Seth was saying, in a whining voice. "Can I at least use your phone, man?"

I knew none of my brothers would appreciate being addressed as 'man' by a drunken teenager. This was confirmed

when Brian stepped forward, and grasped Seth's shirt front in a tight fist.

"Actually, man, no, you can't use the phone. Now, I suggest, strongly, that you take yourself off our porch,

and don't come back."

Crane laid a restraining hand on Brian's shoulder, and Brian turned Seth loose, with a little shake.

"My tires are blown, man," Seth said, his words sounding slurred.

"Not our problem," Crane said.

Adam put a hand on Seth's shoulder, turning him, and the three of them followed him, disappearing from my

view. I would have gone to the foot of the stairs then, to keep listening, but for Evan's hand wrapped around my forearm, preventing

me from doing that.

I looked at him, but any protest I had was silenced by the look on his face.

"Did you, Harlie?" he asked me, quietly.

I would have asked him what he meant, but I knew already. I considered whether to play dumb with him.

"Huh?" I asked.

"Don't," he said. "Just don't even act like you don't know what I mean. I'm not stupid."

"I know," I whispered.

"I told you not to do it."

"Evan-"

"What are you talking about?" Guthrie said, coming down beside us, and butting into the conversation.

Evan didn't say anything, and neither did I, and Guthrie yammered on, "You did do something crazy, am I right?"

"Leave me alone, Guthrie!"

"Where at?" Evan asked shortly.

"The logging road," I said, in an almost whisper.

By now, the front door was closing downstairs, and we could hear Crane, calling someone on the phone, and

explaining briefly to whoever it was that Seth needed a ride, and told them where. Brian and Adam came on up

the stairs, and even though he was mad at me, too, I instinctively pressed closer to Evan.

When Adam saw us all three standing there, he stopped just below us.

"Excitement's over," he said. "Everybody back to bed." He passed on by, and Brian stopped, too,

pinning me with a piercing look.

"What's he doing coming around here at this time of night?" he demanded.

I was afraid to lie for fear that Brian would be able to tell, so I hesitated, trying to think, when Guthrie

spoke up, surprising me.

"He's crazy, Brian. There's no rhyme or reason to what he does most of the time."

"Huh," Brian muttered, and then went on past us.

I looked at Guthrie, in gratitude that had tears springing to my eyes.

"Thanks, Guth," I said.

"Yeah," Guthrie said, and turned to go back to his bedroom.

That left Evan and I alone there on the stairs. When he turned to go, too, I followed, waiting for him to

say something to me. When he didn't, I trailed after him.

"Evan-"

"Not now, Harlie," he said, and went on into his bedroom, shutting the door. I stood there in the hall, blinking

back my tears.

"You okay?" a soft voice asked, from the other end of the hall.

Clare was standing there, wrapped in her pink bathrobe, and wearing a sympathetic smile.

I shook my head in answer, and she came to me, rubbing my shoulder gently.

"Oh, Clare!" I burst out.

7

Please review. thanks!

"


	14. Betsy Vail, carhop

"Shhh," Clare said, "Let's go in here," and gave me a gentle push into my bedroom, pulling the door closed behind us.

I went to sit on the end of my bed, crying in full force now.

Clare sat down beside me, rubbing circles on my back, not saying anything for a few minutes, just letting me cry.

Finally, she said, "Did you know Seth was coming here tonight?"

"Not here. But the logging road, I did."

"Were you going to meet him?"

"He thought I was. But I wasn't, Clare. I never had any intention of really sneaking out to meet him!"

"Why did you tell him to go there?"

I hesitated. "To-play a trick on him."

"What trick?"

"I put nails on the road," I admitted.

Clare didn't say anything, she just nodded.

"He's so mean, Clare. He gave Kristin a black eye, and Guthrie says he likes to get rough with girls."

"He gets his jollies that way?" Clare asked. "I've heard about guys like that."

"I just wanted to take him down a notch," I tried to explain. "I didn't know how else to do it."

"Evan knew about this?" she asked.

"Yes. He told me not to do it-"

"Oh."

"I think he's really mad at me,"

"Maybe you can try talking to him after he cools off," she suggested.

"I hope so."

Clare regarded me with a serious expression in her blue eyes. "Does this boy still think you're interested in him, Harlie?"

"I don't know," I hedged, and then, I met her eyes, and said honestly, "Yeah. He does."

"I'm not trying to tell you what to do, but playing games like these, it can be a dangerous thing. This Seth sounds like

he's real trouble. Will you please just tell him that's it, and be done with it?"

"Yes. I will. I'll tell him tomorrow."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

"Alright." She leaned over and gave me a hug. "Try to get some sleep now."

"Clare?" I said, catching her hand in mine.

"What?"

"Are you going to tell Brian?"

"About the nails?"

"I don't think Brian would care all that much about the nails, but he'll be real angry if he knows I told Seth

I'd sneak out to meet him. Even if I never meant to do it. He won't hear that part of it."

"Well," she looked thoughtful, "if you come home and tell me that you told Seth to jump off a cliff and never

talk to you again, then I won't tell Brian. At least right now. We'll wait till it all blows over and then we'll tell him

together sometime."

"When he's in a really good mood," I specified.

"When he's in a really good mood," she agreed.

We hugged each other, and said goodnight. Once again, I was glad I'd met Clare that night at The Outpost in

San Bernardino.

7

There was hardly a McFadden at the breakfast table the next morning that wasn't in a bad mood. Everyone looked tired.

Evan pointedly ignored my attempts to catch his eye across the table. I stayed quiet so as not to draw attention to myself.

When he'd finished eating, Guthrie stood up, and shoved his chair up to the table.

"I'll be waitin' out in the truck," he told me shortly, and I nodded, finishing my orange juice.

"You hardly ate at all," Hannah said.

"It was good, Hannah," I assured her, standing up and scooting in my chair. When my eyes swept around the table,

it seemed every eye was on me. Except for Evan, of course.

"See you all tonight," I said, and went to grab my books from the living room. Adam walked in as I was

stuffing papers into my backpack. He didn't say anything at first, and even though I felt like running, I stood my ground

and waited.

"Is there anything you need to tell me about, Harlie?"

"I'm going to tell Seth today he'd better never do anything like that again."

"I think Brian and Crane and I made that clear enough last night. I think the less you talk to him, the better."

"Alright," I said quietly.

Guthrie started honking from outside.

"I'll see you tonight," I said.

"Okay. Have a good day."

I didn't think there was much chance of that, but I nodded.

7

The way to school was filled with uncomfortable silence. Guthrie chewed his way thru a pack of Juicy Fruit, but

didn't offer me any.

Finally I braved it, saying, "Thanks for what you said to Brian last night."

"You already told me thank you."

"I'm saying it again."

"Well, I owed you one. For the time you kept it quiet when I broke curfew."

"That's okay."

"Nails on the road? That's a gutsy move, Har."

"You mean crazy, right?"

"Well, that too," he said, and I saw the quick flash of a grin. It was like seeing sunshine, seeing Guthrie grin

at me like that.

"I have to admit, the thought of Seth and three blown tires, that's pretty funny," Guthrie added.

"And you passed up the chance to be in on it," I said, teasing him. "Bet you're sorry now, huh?"

"I didn't say that," he said, and we both laughed.

7

I didn't see Seth at all that morning, but in the afternoon he came in late to English. When I ignored his efforts

to get my attention, he passed a note, across two other people.

I took it, but laid it down as if I wasn't interested at all.

When it was time for silent reading, I propped my book so I could read the note without Seth or anyone else seeing me.

"Meet me after class. Need ta talk to ya."

I looked across at him. He was staring at me, and I shook my head at him. I went back to my reading, and five minutes or so

later, another note came across to me.

"I'm not fooling around anymore. Meet me outside."

I crumpled the note up, feeling an awful sense of foreboding. This was getting out of hand.

Well, I didn't go out to meet up with him. I walked to class with other kids, not wanting him to catch me alone.

He did catch me as I was going into the biology classroom, with a hand on my arm.

"Why won't you talk to me?"

"I don't want to talk to you."

"Look, if it's about last night, coming to your house like that, alright, maybe I shouldn't have. It just royally pissed me off

that some bastard left nails all over the road like that! It's going to cost plenty to replace all those tires."

I didn't say anything in answer to that. I shook his hand off my arm.

"I've got to talk to you!" he insisted. "I'll wait for you after school."

He stalked away.

During biology I could hardly concentrate on what Mrs. Riggs was explaining. I was trying to figure out what to do.

Clare was right, and so were all my brothers. Seth was trouble. I needed to nip this whole thing with him, and quickly. But I was hesitant

now about being alone with him. He seemed like he was on edge, simmering with anger. I needed to tell him, make him

understand, that I wasn't going to have anything to do with him.

I made sure I walked out with a group of kids after school, too, but it didn't matter, because there, sitting as bold as

brass, on Guthrie's truck tailgate, was Seth.

I thought if Guthrie saw that, he would go ballistic. There'd be a big fight. This whole thing would just get worse if that

happened. I walked as quick as I could, going right up to where he sat.

"Get up!" I ordered, not caring if it made him mad or not.

"What?" he said, looking like he was amused.

"Get your butt up and off of Guthrie's truck, before he gets out here!"

"I'm not afraid of Guthrie," Seth scoffed, but he did stand up.

"I just want to talk to you," he said.

"What?!" I demanded. "What do you want?!"

"You didn't meet me last night like you said you would."

"No, and I never meant to meet you! I just told you that!"

Seth's eyes narrowed. "Why would you lie about meeting me?"

"To trick you! I don't like you!"

"Yeah, you do," he insisted.

"I don't!"

"Why not?"

"I know what an ass you are! You hit Kristin, and other girls, too! You're nothing but a scummy piece of trash

bully!"

Seth grabbed my arm. "You're a tease," he accused.

"I'm not!" I protested.

"I get even with people that do me wrong," he said, and I felt a cold chill run down my back.

"I'll tell my brothers!" I threatened him.

"I'm not 18," he said, with a smirk, squeezing my arm. "Not a one of 'em can touch me, 'cept for Guthrie, or they'll go

to jail. And I can take Guthrie, no problem."

I'd worn my boots that day, instead of sneakers, and I raised my heel, stomping on his foot. He hollered, and let go of

my arm. His yell caught people's attention, and he gave me a harsh glare.

"Watch out," he said, and stalked away.

I climbed in Guthrie's truck, shaking. There was a thermos of water and I took a long drink, trying to calm down.

Guthrie opened his truck door. "Hey," he greeted me.

I nodded at him, not trusting myself to answer.

"Megan'll be out in a minute," Guthrie was saying.

I nodded again.

Guthrie looked at me. "You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," I managed.

"You look funny. What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

I set the thermos back on the floorboard, and Guthrie frowned.

"You're shaking," he stated.

"I'm okay."

"You're not okay,"

"Please, Guth-" I said, and tears filled my eyes. Guthrie took another look at my face, and my shaking hands, and then

he said abruptly, "I'll be right back," and got out, walking back into the school.

When he came back out, he got in and started the engine up.

"Put your seat belt on," he ordered, and I did.

He put the truck in gear and started pulling out of the school parking lot,

"What about Megan?" I asked.

"I told her to get a ride from a friend, or call her mom."

"How come?" I asked, stunned.

"Cause I figured, whatever's wrong with you, you wouldn't want her to hear what it is when you tell me about it."

At another time, I would have smiled at Guthrie's tenaciousness. I didn't feel like smiling right then, though.

"Who says I'm going to tell you anything?"

"I say.'

I sighed. McFadden's are notorious for their stubbornness, and I swear that Guthrie has the most of all.

"I was talking to Seth-"

"What'd the jackass do?!" Guthrie said, taking his eyes off the road and watching me until I feared he would hit

something.

"Watch the road, Guthrie!"

"Then tell me," he ordered.

"He was talking to me, I was telling him what I think of him. He didn't like it."

"Did he hurt you? I'll kick his ass-"

"No, he didn't. He just got mad."

"Mad enough to rattle you like that?"

"I guess." I leaned my head back and closed my eyes.

I opened them again when the truck stopped. We were in the Dari Kurl parking lot.

"What are you doing?"

"Gettin' ice cream, what do you think?"

"I don't have any money."

"I'm paying, goofy."

When Betsy Vail, the car hop, came up to the window, Guthrie ordered two chocolate shakes.

"Okay, coming up," Betsy said. "Hi, Harlie!"

I waved my hand in a weak wave. "Hi, Bets."

Betsy leaned in Guthrie's open window. "Are you okay?" she asked me. "You look kind of funny."

"She's fine," Guthrie answered for me. "Can you get the shakes, Bets? We've got to get home."

While we waited for her to bring us the ice cream, Guthrie tapped his fingers on the steering wheel in an agitated

drumming.

"So you told him, huh? To leave you alone?"

"Yeah."

"What'd he say?"

There wasn't much of what Seth had said that I could repeat to Guthrie. I couldn't tell him about Seth telling me to watch out,

or about how he'd said he could take Guthrie in a fight.

I picked out what I could tell him. "He just didn't believe it when I said I didn't like him. He called me a-"

"He called you what?"

"He said I was a tease."

"Oh."

Bets came up with our shakes. Guthrie gave her the money, and we started driving home. I didn't really feel like ice cream.

My stomach felt like it was in nervous knots. But Guthrie had been so nice to buy it for me, and he was being so nice right now

that I didn't want to tell him that.

"Do you think I'm a tease?" I asked him.

"No."

"Well," I said, honestly, "I kind of did play games with him. I let him think I liked him, and that I'd go out with him, and all. Is

that what a tease does?"

"Don't worry about him anymore. He's not worth it."

"Okay."

"I'll have a little talk with him. Make sure he understands the way things are going to be."

"Please don't, Guthrie!"

I was genuinely distressed, and Guthrie saw that, and relented. "Well, alright. If he leaves you alone, then I won't. But I want

you to tell me if he says or does anything. Do you promise?"

I wasn't certain I could keep that promise, but I knew if I didn't promise, Guthrie would pester me till I would lose my mind.

"Okay."

"Okay," Guthrie said, and pulled into our driveway, parking the truck and shutting off the engine.

"Thank you for having Megan find another ride this afternoon," I said.

"It's okay."

"Was she mad?"

Something passed over Guthrie's face, but it was gone quickly. "Naw," he said.

7

Please review! Thanks to faithful reviewers!


	15. Teasing Megan

If I looked funny to Bets at the Dari Kurl, I knew that Hannah would notice that

something was wrong right off. When Guthrie and I went in the house, though, Clare

came thru from the kitchen.

"Hi," she greeted us. "How was school?"

"It was there," Guthrie said.

"Not great," I said.

"Oh."

"Where's Hannah?" Guthrie asked then.

"She went with Adam to Angels Camp to get a part for one of the washing machines. They

should be along soon."

"Who's cooking tonight?" Guthrie asked, and I wanted to kick him for the concerned look on his face.

It was obvious that he thought it was Clare, and I didn't want her feelings to be hurt.

Clare got his meaning, too, but, being Clare, she just laughed it off.

"Don't get all tense, Guthrie," she said. "It's Evan's night."

Guthrie groaned. "Evan! That's worse!"

"Guthrie!" I hissed.

"Maybe you should grab some of the cookies that Hannah made earlier, just to

help get thru this evening," Clare suggested, with a wicked glint in her eye.

Guthrie grinned a disarming McFadden grin at Clare. "Good idea," he agreed, and ambled

towards the kitchen.

Clare sat down on the couch, pulling me down beside her.

"So, why was the day so bad? Does it have to do with Boy Wonder?"

"Yeah. My little chat with him didn't go so well. He got pretty angry."

Clare looked concerned. "Does he know you're done, though? Finished?"

"He knows."

"Okay. That's good."

I almost told Clare about Seth telling me to watch out, and the way he'd looked at me,

all cold and furious. But I knew, friend or no, she'd feel that she had to tell Brian something like

that. I needed some time to think things thru a little more.

"I better get to chores," I said, and got up.

"How about we do pedicures tonight?" Clare suggested.

"Yeah. Okay," I agreed.

"I'll French braid your hair, too," Clare said.

I went off to the barn, being intensely grateful for Clare. I fed the chickens, and the goats, and

went to check on the horses, running clean water in the water tubs. Petra came up, nudging me, and

looking for her nightly apple treat.

"Sorry, girl," I told her. "I'll give you two tomorrow."

I saw Evan coming around the corner of the barn, carrying a empty bucket from where

he'd been feeding the pigs.

I wandered closer, carrying my own empty buckets into the barn.

"Hi," I said quietly.

"Hey," he said.

He went past me into the barn, and put the bucket back beside the feed. I followed him, and

set down my buckets.

"Can I talk to you?" I asked him.

Evan stopped, and turned to look at me, waiting silently.

"Did you tell Adam about what I did?"

"No."

"Are you going to?"

"Is that what you're worried about? Well, don't. It's up to you to tell him if you want him to

know."

"Okay. Thanks, Evan."

"Why thank me?"

I looked at him, perplexed. "For not telling on me. You know."

"Does that upgrade me to being a 'cool' brother?" he asked, sarcasm in his tone.

I blinked at him, not understanding.

"What?"

"Nothing." He turned to walk away.

I stood there thinking for a minute, and then ran to catch up with him.

"Are you mad because I didn't listen to you?"

"Harlie, just leave it alone. It's over and done."

"But I don't want you to be mad at me!"

Evan stopped so suddenly that I ran smack dab into him.

"Why not?" he demanded, hands on his hips.

"Why not what? You're confusing me, Evan."

"Why don't you want me to be mad at you?"

"Well, because," I said, "I don't like it when you're mad at me. It's not like last year.

We're friends now. I don't want it to be like it was before with us."

"Friends, huh?"

"Well, yeah."

"You don't think much of our friendship then, do you?"

"Yes, I do!"

"Harlie, you did something that can get you in a lot of trouble. If somebody finds out

it was you that dumped all those nails, they could tell the sheriff."

I looked at him in horror. "They could?"

"Of course they could."

"I didn't know that!"

"I told you it was intentional property damage. I told you not to do it-"

"Yes, but I didn't know it was that kind of trouble!"

"Maybe because you don't ever listen, you just go plowing into things like a

bull in a china shop, doing as you please."

I was quiet then, looking at Evan, and feeling worried, and even remorseful.

"Well?" he asked me.

I shook my head. "You're right," I said quietly.

He walked off again, and I followed him. "I'm not just saying that, Evan. I mean it!"

"Let's just drop it."

"Okay." I stopped walking, and stood there thinking, and then started towards the barn.

I was almost there when he called after me, "Hey! Where are you going?"

"Back to pick them up," I called back.

"Comere!" he yelled at me.

I walked back to where he stood.

"Why are you doing that?" he asked.

"Well, I was thinking, if someone else went down that road soon, it might puncture

their tires, too. I think I should go pick them up."

"Oh. Yeah, that's probably a good idea. Wait till after supper, and I'll help you."

"Really? You will?"

"I said I would, didn't I?"

He started towards the porch, and I followed, smiling to myself.

Evan and I had come a long way.

7

Evan made tacos for supper, which were really good. Adam teased him, saying that they

didn't take any work, besides frying up the hamburger. It was during supper that I discovered

Megan was coming to have Sunday dinner with us. I groaned inwardly, but focused on the fact

that Guthrie had been thoughtful enough to have her not ride home with us when I was so upset.

Daniel called after supper, and said he'd be home that weekend, and in the excitement

and noise, Evan and I both forgot about picking up the nails.

Hannah started talking about the menu for Sunday lunch, and then suggested that we

have a picnic at the creek.

"Do you think Megan would enjoy that?" she asked Guthrie.

I had my own opinion about Megan and picnics, and dirt, and outdoors, and bugs, but I

kept them to myself.

"It sounds great, Hannah," Guthrie said, and it wasn't until later that I realized Guthrie

hadn't exactly answered Hannah's question.

"Did somebody call Ford?" Crane asked. "Make sure he knows to come home this weekend, too."

"I will," Hannah said, and got up to go to the phone. "I want to see if his cold is any better."

"Mama and all her chicks," Brian said, laughing, and Clare elbowed him in the ribs.

Everybody wanted to talk to Ford, too, and by then, it was bedtime.

I went to Hannah and Adam's bedroom. The door was open, and Hannah was sitting on

the bed, cross-legged, rubbing her stomach.

"Come in, sweetie," she said.

I went to curl up beside her on the bed, reaching out to rub her stomach, too.

"Soon we'll be able to feel the baby move."

"We will?" I asked. "Wow."

"Yes," she said, and laughed. "Wow."

"It must feel pretty spectacular, growing a person," I said.

Hannah's face was joyful. "That's a good word for it. I like that. Spectacular. Yes, it does feel

spectacular."

Adam came in, and sat down in the chair, pulling off his boots.

"Is this a private party?" he asked.

"There's always a spot for you, cowboy," Hannah said, with a smile for him.

"Yeah. Well, a certain person is in my spot." He stood up and looked down at me.

I giggled, and looked at him thru my mass of curls. "Who? Me?"

"Yes, you. Nothing personal against you, sugar, but vamoose. Skedaddle. Get lost. GO."

"Okay, fine," I said. I gave Hannah a quick hug, and did a forward roll off the bed. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, sweetie," Hannah said.

"Goodnight, and close the door behind you, please," Adam told me.

"Yes, sir," I said, and giggled again.

7

The next day at school Seth didn't come near me, or try to pass any notes to me. He did, however,

glare at me angrily whenever I chanced to look at him. I wondered if maybe I should talk to Guthrie again,

but I thought surely Seth would get over his mad, and move on to the next unfortunate girl.

On the way home from school, I stuck my nose in a book, as I usually did, so as to avoid

any conversation with Megan. Megan, however, seemed intent on forcing me into a conversation.

"Was everything alright yesterday, Harlie?" she drawled. "Guthrie says you were upset about somethin'-"

I looked up from my book to shoot Guthrie an accusing look. He gave a 'what was I supposed to do' shrug.

"Everything's just fine, Megan," I said.

"Well, that's good." When she said the word 'good' it came out sounding like 'gooood'. "I was just so

concerned about you."

"Were you?" I asked. "I hope you didn't lose any sleep worrying over me."

"Well, naturally, I'm concerned about you, bein' Guthrie's sister and all." Sister sounded like

'sista' when she said it.

"Well, naturally you are," I said, sarcastically.

"Come on," Guthrie spoke up. "Let's talk about something else."

I went back to my book, and Megan started talking about the Homecoming Dance the next night.

She droned on and on about her dress and what color flower Guthrie should get her for a wrist

corsage.

"Did Guthrie tell you we're having a picnic on Sunday when you come over?" I asked Megan, feeling a

glimmer of satisfaction when she looked surprised, and then appalled. Guthrie gave me a look this time,

and I gave him a 'now we're even' shrug.

"Well, no," she said, looking at Guthrie, obviously displeased.

"I forgot to mention it," he said, still glaring at me.

I mouthed the word 'liar' silently back at him.

"Be sure you bring your swimming suit," I told her. "It's supposed to be warm on Sunday."

"You swim in a lake?" she asked.

"No," I said cheerfully, "it's a creek, isn't it, Guthrie?"

"Yeah," he said.

"I've never been swimming anywhere but a city pool," she said, looking uncertain.

"Oh, you don't know what you've been missing, does she, Guthrie?"

"Harlie, shut up," he said. To Megan, he said, "You don't have to swim if you don't want to."

"But all your family, they're all going to be swimming?"

"Oh, sure," I chimed in. "I bet if you get in you'll really enjoy it. You can feel the mud and sand squishing

between your toes-"

"Oooo," Megan said.

"Harlie, knock it off," Guthrie ordered. He looked kind of mad, so I went back to my reading, smiling

to myself. I kept smiling until Guthrie got back in after walking Megan to her door, and gave me

an angry look.

"Why do you do that?" he demanded.

"Do what?" I asked innocently.

"You know what. Yank Megan's chain like that."

"She yanks mine too."

He sighed. "I know."

"I'll try to stop doing it. It's just so easy to get her going."

" I don't see why you can't let anything she says just roll off of you," he said, putting the truck in gear

and pulling out onto the highway.

"Why is it okay for her to make snide comments to me?"

"It's not okay. I know Megan's kind of-" he hesitated, "well, different. She's not really a

country girl."

"But she's good looking. So that makes it all okay, right?'

We stopped at the railroad tracks, and Guthrie gave me a disappointed look before he

started driving again.

"You're doing it again," he said.

"Doing what?!"

"Bein' all smart ass."

I would have told him exactly what I thought then, except he beat me to the punch by saying

in a quiet voice, "You're better than that, Har."

I stared at him. "Better than what? What do you mean?"

"You're a nice person. That's what I mean."

I looked at him out of the corner of my eye, feeling a little ashamed.

"I think you're a nice person, too," I told him.

"Thanks."

"So, are you excited about the dance tomorrow night?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Naw. You know I don't like these kind of dances."

I knew what he meant. Guthrie can dance really well, if it's line dancing, but the kind of dancing

they do at school dances isn't his thing. I couldn't remember him ever going to a school dance before.

I guess being in love makes a person do things they wouldn't normally do.

"Did Tony Williams ask you to go?"

"No. Why?"

"I just thought he was going to."

"Oh." I thought about that a minute. Tony is in Guthrie's grade, and he's nice, but I didn't think

I wanted to date him.

"He might call you tonight," Guthrie volunteered.

"It's kind of late to be asking," I said.

"Yeah. But it might be fun for you."

"Daniel and Ford are coming, though."

"It's just somethin' to think about. There's supposed to be a party afterward up at Hell's Bend."

Hell's Bend is just what's left of an old deserted town. There's a few dilapidated old buildings,

and it's where the kids around here have gone for years to party and drink.

I looked at Guthrie in surprise.

"Are you going?" I asked him.

"Maybe."

He doesn't usually, so I had my suspicions about why, or rather WHO, was encouraging him.

"You wouldn't drink a lot, though, would you?"

"And drive? Heck, no. I'm not going to risk having an accident, or having Adam or Brian

kick my ass."

By now, we were pulling into our driveway. A familiar white pickup with a dent in the rear right

fender was already there.

"Ford's here!" I squealed in excitement.

It was a race to see who would get to Ford first, me or Guthrie. My bet, if I'd made one,

would have been on myself.

7


	16. Harlie has a date

Guthrie and I burst thru the front door, elbowing each other out of the way. When he jabbed me

I yelled, "Owww!"

Guthrie stopped to look at me, concerned, and I grinned, yelled, "Sucker!" and

jumped in front of him, barreling into the living room.

"What in the world is going on?!" Hannah asked, coming out of the kitchen, Ford

trailing behind her.

"Guthrie's SLOW, that's what's going on!" I hollered, and did a flying leap at Ford, wrapping

my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist.

"Dang, Harlie," Ford groaned.

"Oh, Fordie, I've missed you!"

"No kidding," he said, setting me on my feet, only to be tackled to the couch by Guthrie, and onto

the floor. They

wrestled for a few minutes, until Ford started coughing so hard that Guthrie turned him loose, standing up.

"Ford, are you alright?" Hannah asked, looking worried.

Ford laid on the floor on his back, looking up at her. "I'm fine," he said, and pointed up at

Guthrie. "When I get up, look out, little brother," he threatened.

"Yeah, yeah," Guthrie mocked, and held out a hand to help pull Ford to his feet.

"You've gotten soft living the college life," Guthrie told him.

"I've been sick," Ford protested. "When I get my wind back, I'll break every bone in your body."

"Ooooo," Guthrie said, pretending to shake in fear.

Hannah turned to go back to the kitchen. "I want you to go to bed early tonight, Ford," she said,

and Ford grinned at Guthrie and I behind Hannah's back.

"Yes, ma'm," he said, and rolled his eyes.

"I saw that," Hannah said, without turning around.

7

We were finishing up with supper when the phone rang.

"Might be Daniel," Evan said, and went to answer it.

"More pie, Ford?" Hannah asked.

"Don't mind if I do," Ford said, scooping another piece of pie onto his plate.

"Feed a cold, starve a fever," Adam said.

"I think it's starve a cold, feed a fever," Crane said.

Evan came back into the kitchen, looking amused. "It's for you, Harlie," he said.

"Okay," I said, and got to my feet.

When I picked up the receiver and said hello, there was a slight pause, and

then, "Hi, Harlie? This is Tony. Tony Williams."

"Hi."

"How are you?" he asked, sounding nervous.

"I'm fine. How are you?"

"Oh, I'm fine, too. Actually, Harlie, I was wondering if you'd go to the dance with

me tomorrow night. I know it's real short notice and all."

"Oh," I said, trying to think fast. I wished I'd had a chance to talk to Hannah or Clare and

get their advice, but in the excitement of seeing Ford I'd forgotten.

"I'm sorry for not asking you sooner. I didn't know if I could get off work until today."

"That's alright. I understand."

When I still hesitated, he said, "You probably already have a date, huh?"

"No. It's not that-could you call back in a couple of hours or so? I have to ask permission and

everything. You know."

"Oh, sure," he said, sounding happy. "I'll call back. Bye, Harlie."

"Bye."

I went slowly back to the kitchen, thinking, and was greeted by Evan making kissing

noises, and Ford humming 'Here Comes the Bride'.

"Oh, shut up," I told them both, good-naturedly.

"Who was it?" Brian asked. "It wasn't that Seth kid, was it?"

"No, Brian," I sighed.

"Was it Tony?" Guthrie asked.

"Yeah."

"Tony?" Hannah asked.

"Tony Williams," I said.

"Oh, is that Elsie's son? You know Elsie and Roy, don't you, hon?" she asked Adam.

Adam wrinkled his forehead in thought. "Oh, yeah, I think so."

"Good grief," I muttered, and looked at Hannah. "Please, can we talk about it later?"

After supper, I pulled Hannah into a corner of the living room, and then waved Clare over.

When I explained what was going on, they both got all excited.

"What dress would you wear?" Hannah asked me.

"I don't know, the blue one I guess. But-"

"We didn't get your nails done last night. We can do that tonight," Clare said.

"Thanks. But-"

"What shoes would you wear with the blue dress?" Hannah asked then.

"Wait a minute!" I said, and they both looked at me.

"What?" Hannah asked.

"I don't really know if I want to go."  
>"Why?"<p>

"Isn't he a nice boy?" Clare asked.

"He's nice, I guess. I just don't really know him that well. And Ford's here. And

Daniel's coming. I don't want to lose any time with him."

"Daniel's not coming until Saturday," Hannah reminded me.

"And that's what dating is all about," Clare interjected. "Getting to know different people."

"I don't know," I hesitated.

"It won't hurt for you to go, sweetie," Hannah told me.

"It's just one date," Clare said. "If you don't want to date him again, that's fine, too."

"Okay," I said. "I guess so."

A few minutes later when everybody was sitting around the living room, Hannah

announced, "Harlie and Guthrie are both going to the dance tomorrow night."

Adam looked up, his eyebrows raised.

"With who?" he asked me.

Hannah gave me a nudge in the ribs, when I was slow to answer.

"Tony Williams," I said.

Then the brotherly inquisition began. Some of it serious, some teasing.

"How old is this kid?" Adam asked.

"He's in my grade," Guthrie spoke up.

"Is he a nice kid?" Adam asked, looking at Guthrie.

"He is," Guthrie answered. "I wouldn't have told him he could call Harlie if he wasn't."

"Does he drive?" Brian asked, then. "Maybe you two could ride with Guthrie and his girl."

"Not necessary," I said, but no one was paying any attention.

"It'll be pretty crowded in Guthrie's truck with four people," Clare said, elbowing Brian

in the ribs.

"You could take the Jeep," Brian suggested, "clean it up and stuff-"

I almost laughed at that. The thought of Megan riding in our dusty old Jeep, with the

wind blowing in thru the top and the sides, messing up her hair and dress, was beyond

thinking about. I could tell by the look on Guthrie's face that he thought the same thing.

"He has his own car," Guthrie told Brian.

"I don't like the idea of Harlie riding with somebody we don't really know," Brian said.

"Brian-" I began, only to be interrupted by Evan.

"I could drive Harlie and her date," he said, sounding perfectly serious, and I gave

him a look.

"No!" I protested. "Evan, you aren't going to drive us!"

"Well, why not, Har?" Evan asked, and then turned to Ford. "Did you hear that, Ford? Harlie

doesn't want me to drive her to the dance." He had a hurt look on his face that I knew

was fake.

"I'm sure it will be fine, Brian," Hannah said, stepping in. "You can meet Tony, and

you boys can look him over, see if you approve."

Brian nodded grudgingly, and Hannah nodded towards Adam, and I obligingly

said, "Is it alright, Adam?"

"I guess so," Adam said. "What time's the dance over?"

I realized I didn't even know. I looked at Guthrie, and he answered, "Midnight."

"That's pretty late," Adam said, and Brian nodded in agreement.

"It's just one night, hon," Hannah said, hooking her arm thru Adam's. "It will be good for her to go."

"Okay, but come home after the dance. No driving around or anything," Adam said.

I said fine, because I didn't see why I would want to not come straight home.

Clare did my nails that evening, using pale pink polish. Ford fell asleep, stretched out on the

couch, and I pointed at his bare feet, and Clare grinned, and very cautiously, she dabbed

polish on three of Ford's toenails.

"Hey!" Evan protested, coming into the room carrying a glass of milk and a cookie, and seeing what

we were doing.

"Shhh, Evan!" I told him.

"Hey, us guys have to stick together," Evan said, and when he leaned over to shake Ford

awake, I stuck a foot out and Evan stumbled, spilling his milk on Crane's book and the rug.

Crane looked up and held up his book, shaking the drops of milk off his pages.

"Evan!" Hannah said.

"I wish you clowns would give a person some notice," Crane complained.

"Dang it, Harlie tripped me," Evan said.

"Me?" I asked, looking up innocently.

All of the commotion woke Ford up. "What's going on," he asked groggily.

"Why don't you go on up to bed?" Hannah told him. "You're exhausted."

"Yeah, get to bed," Adam said. "I've got plenty of work to keep you busy tomorrow."

Ford groaned.

"Yeah, Ford, take your little pink toes up to bed," Brian said.

Ford sat up, looking confused. "Huh?"

Clare and I started laughing, sitting cross-legged on the floor.

"Which do you like better, Ford? Pale pink or hot pink?" I asked.

7

Ford went up to bed, pink toenails and all, and I talked to Tony when he called back, and told him that

I would go with him to the dance. He seemed really happy and even a little grateful, and I have to say it

gave my ego a boost.

When I went up the stairs to bed, I met Guthrie in the hall, coming out of the shower.

"So?" he asked me.

"I guess I'm going to go with him."

"That's good. He's liked you for a really long time now."

"He has?"

"Yeah. He's kind of shy."

"'Well," I said, not wanting Guthrie to misunderstand, "it's just the dance. I don't know if I'll go on another date with

him or not."

"Okay. Just give him a chance. He's a good guy."

"Uh huh," I said vaguely.

7

At breakfast the next morning I remembered to ask Hannah if Kristin could come over Sunday for

the picnic.

"Well, sure," Hannah said, with a smile.

"Okay, thanks," I said, and grabbed another biscuit to eat on the way to school.

Seth came late to school again, and he left me alone, other than his searing glares. After

lunch when I was throwing away my banana peel and other trash, Tony came up to me

and said, "Hi, Harlie."

"Hi, Tony."

"I was going to tell you that I'll pick you up at about seven tonight."

"Oh. Okay."

"What color is your dress?"

I looked at him puzzled, for a minute, and then I realized that he intended to buy

me a corsage.

"Blue," I said, "but you don't have to, Tony."

"My sister says it's the polite thing to do."

"Well. Thank you."

"Alright. I'll see you tonight."

Kristin was thrilled at the prospect of coming over to our house on Sunday. We

giggled together about whether Megan would actually get into the creek to swim.

All in all, it wasn't a bad day. I still had concerns about Seth, but I resolutely pushed

them to the back of my mind. There was something else that kept nagging at me, and

I tried to figure out what it was. Finally, it dawned on me that I'd never gone to

pick up the nails. I decided I would do it the next morning, first thing, before Daniel

got home.

When I got home, I changed to my old jeans and did my chores, and then after

supper, Hannah told me I could go up and take a shower.

"I'll be up in a little bit to do your hair, if you want," Clare offered.

"Alright, thanks," I said, beginning to get a little excited.

"So what time is this Tony getting here?" Brian asked.

I looked toward him, and he and Adam were both looking right at me.

"Around seven," I answered, and Brian nodded, picking up a newspaper,

and sitting down on the opposite end of the couch from Adam.

"Alright," he said, shaking out the paper, and starting to read.

I came closer to the end of the couch, taking them both in.

"Bri," I said, a little anxiously, "you're not going to get all weird, are you?"

Brian laid the newspaper in his lap.

"I take offense at that," he said. "What do you mean, weird?"

"Well, you're not going to grill Tony, and ask him a bunch of questions, right? Or ask

him if he's had any speeding tickets, or stuff like that?"

"Well, it's nice to know what you think of me," Brian said, pretending to be

insulted.

"Brian will behave, won't you, darlin'?" Clare said.

"Sure, Brian won't ask anything embarrassing," Adam spoke up, "like if

Tony's ever killed anybody. He'll leave that to me, right, Brian?"

"That's right," Brian said.

I groaned, knowing they were both teasing me, and Adam gave me a wink.

I was heading up the stairs, when I heard Evan asking where Crane was.

"He had something to do," Hannah said vaguely. "He'll be along soon."

After I took a shower, I went into Hannah's bedroom, and got into my dress. I don't wear dresses as a general rule, only to

church, or weddings or something like that. Dresses just aren't my thing. I feel more

like myself in jeans and t-shirts, and my boots.

This is an older one, that Hannah copied from a magazine. It's blue, with a full skirt,

that kind of swirls whenever I move. After a while, Clare came up to sit with me,

and she put my hair in a French braid. After I put on a little bit of makeup, Clare

stood back to survey me.

"You look fantastic," she approved. "How about some earrings?"

I looked at her hopefully. "Those gold bangles of yours would look really good, don't you

think?"

Clare grinned. "I'll go up and get them. Be right back."

When Clare had gone, I stood in front of Hannah's full-length mirror, studying

myself, and kind of swirling my skirt back and forth.

Then, in the reflection of the mirror, there in the open doorway of the bedroom,

leaning against the wall, was Daniel.

I caught my breath, and for a minute I was so surprised that I just kept looking at

him in the mirror, not turning around.

"I just get home, and I find out you're ditching me for some other guy," he said,

with a smile.

I turned around and faced him. "Daniel," I said.

"Hey, squirt."

I flung myself at him, and hugged him, hanging on, and Daniel hugged me back,

and neither one of us said anything for a long time.

7

read and review, please!


	17. Talking to Daniel

Finally, I stepped back a little, but still hanging on to Daniel.

"I thought you were coming tomorrow morning," I told him.

"Oh. I can leave and come back tomorrow-" Daniel said, and made as

if to walk away.

I caught his arm in a tight grip. "Oh, no, you don't!" I warned him.

Daniel laughed. "Crane picked me up at the airport. I took an earlier flight."

"What's it like to fly?" I asked.

"It's wild."

Clare came back into the room breezily, not even blinking an eye at seeing

Daniel standing there.

"Well, hello, Daniel McFadden," she said, giving him a light punch in his

shoulder. "It's good to see you haven't forgotten us poor unknowns, since

you became rich and famous."

"If I'm rich and and famous, somebody forgot to tell me about it," Daniel said,

"and hello to you too, sister Clare. Are you keeping that ornery brother of

mine under control?"

"It's no easy job," Clare said. "Brian McFadden is in a class all by himself."

"I heard that," Brian said, sticking his head in the door. Crane walked in

around him. "How do you like your surprise?" Crane asked me, rubbing

a hand across the back of Daniel's neck.

"It's a great surprise," I said.

Evan and Ford appeared next. "What's everybody doing in here?" Evan

asked, around the bite of brownie he had in his mouth.

"We're having a party," Clare said dryly, handing me the earrings.

"And Ford and I weren't invited?" Evan snorted. "I see how things are."

By then Hannah and Adam were standing by the doorway.

"Why is everybody in my bedroom?" Adam demanded.

"Let's go downstairs and have dessert," Hannah said.

"Pie?" Ford asked hopefully.

Everybody went downstairs, talking all at the same time. I kept a

tight grip on Daniel's hand as we walked.

"How long are you staying?" I asked him.

"A week or so," he said, looking at me. "So who is this character

you're going out with? Anything I need to worry about?"

"He's not a character. He's just a boy. And no, there's nothing for you

to worry about. It's just a dance."

"You don't sound very excited."

I shrugged. "If I'd known you were coming home tonight, I wouldn't

have said I would go."

"Oh, come on, squirt. Go and have fun. We have six days together."

"I guess so."

Downstairs, everybody was talking and laughing, and then the dessert

started being passed around. I didn't eat any, because I'd already brushed my

teeth.

When Guthrie came down the stairs, he was dressed in jeans and

a red snap up western shirt. When he got closer I could smell the

cologne he was wearing.

"You smell sweet, little brother," Evan teased him.

"Guthrie, I wish you'd wear your church pants, and not jeans," Hannah

said.

"Aww, these are fine, Hannah," Guthrie protested good-naturedly.

After a few minutes, Guthrie left to go pick Megan up, carrying the

corsage he was going to give her.

Adam gave his customary warnings to Guthrie about driving safely.

"And no drinking," Adam told him.

"Drive safe and no drinking. Got it," Guthrie said, and dropped a kiss

on Hannah's cheek. "See you all in the morning."

"No later than 1:00," Adam added.

"Drive safe, no drinking, and home by 1:00. Check."

"Don't be a smart ass," Adam told him.

Guthrie grinned, and went out.

"What if Tony wants to kiss me?" I asked Clare, really low.

"If you don't want to, then you don't have to. But if it feels comfortable

to you, then go ahead and kiss him."

Neither one of us had paid attention to Brian coming up behind us.

"Hey, now," he protested. "Don't be telling her that."

"Oh, Brian, for Pete's sake," Clare said. "You're going to have to

wake up to the fact that Harlie's growing up."

Brian closed his eyes tight and said, "I can't wake up to that. Don't

ask me to."

When Tony got there, Evan and Ford went into their clown act,

peering out the window at him.

"Stop it!" I told them. "He's shy, you're going to scare him to

death."

When there was a knock on the door, I passed by Evan and

aimed a kick at his leg before I opened the door.

"Hi, Tony," I said.

"Hi, Harlie. Wow, you look great."

"Thank you. Come in for a minute."

When Tony stepped into the front foyer, everybody made

polite chit chat for a few minutes.

"Harlie needs to be home by 12:30," Adam told Tony,

and I tried not to cringe.

"Sure. Okay. I'll have her here by then," Tony said, looking

nervous.

"12:30, not 12:31," Brian said.

I did cringe at that. It was embarrassing.

I was glad when we were out on the front porch, the door shut

behind us. I looked at Tony, and felt as if I had to apologize.

"They're a little overprotective sometimes," I told him.

"That's okay. I understand."

He handed me a wrist corsage, and I slipped it over my wrist, with a 'thanks'.

On the way to the high school, we talked casually, and it seemed

like Guthrie had been right about Tony being a nice boy.

"There's a party after the dance, I hear, but I guess that's not

on for tonight, since you have to be home by 12:30."

"I'd better not," I said. "Maybe you can go to the party after you take me home."

"No, that's alright. I don't really care much about that type of party. My dad would

kill me if I was to drink and drive, and there's not much point in going to one of those

parties unless you're going to drink."

I nodded in agreement. When we got to the high school, he came around to open the

door for me, and I thought he had really good manners for somebody our age.

The dance was alright, mostly we just talked to other people. We sat at a table

drinking punch with Lori and Trent, and at one point, Guthrie and Megan came up to

the table. Megan was wearing a really pretty dress. It was so fancy that I knew she

had to have gotten it at the mall, and I thought it must have been really expensive. I

thought that was sort of strange, since Guthrie had told Hannah that Megan's mother

was having a hard time meeting her bills. Still, I had to admit that she looked really

pretty.

Guthrie said hello to Trent and Tony, but none of us girls said a word to each other. I

thought about telling Megan her dress was nice, or something like that, but knowing how

Lori feels about her, I decided to say nothing. Lori was my friend, and I knew she was

bothered enough by Megan standing beside our table. I knew that by the way she

tensed up, and hung a little tighter onto Trent's arm. Trent, to his credit, didn't pay

Megan any attention. I guess he'd learned his lesson where she was concerned.

When the dance was over and Tony and I were heading outside, we passed Guthrie

and Megan.

"You headin' home?" Guthrie asked us.

"Yeah. I don't want to get her home late," Tony answered.

"Okay, see you later," Guthrie said.

I wondered if Guthrie and Megan were going to the Hell's Bend party, but I didn't ask.

Tony and I didn't talk much on the way home. At one point, he said,

"Thanks for going with me."

"It's okay. It was fun."

At the house, he walked me up to the front porch. The front porch light was on, and there

were still lights on in the house, too. Someone was for sure waiting up for me.

"Well," Tony said, into the awkward silence. "Thanks, again."

"You're welcome."

"Would you go out with me again, sometime?"

"You can call me."

"Okay."

I could tell he wanted to kiss me, but it just felt strange to me, so I stepped nearer to the

door and opened it.

"Bye," I said.

"Bye, Harlie."

Inside the door, I saw Adam sitting on the couch, and he put down his book down as I closed the

door behind me.

"Hey," he said.

"Hi."

"Everything okay?" he asked me.

"Yes." I looked at the big clock on the fireplace mantel. "12:20. I'm even early."

"Good."

I went closer to the couch. "You didn't have to wait up for me."

"Yeah. Actually, I did."

He stood up, laying his book on the table beside the couch. He switched off one lamp,

and left the other one on for Guthrie.

"Bedtime," he said, and we started up the stairs together.

At my bedroom door, he kissed the top of my head. "Night, sugar."

I thought how tired he looked, and how he'd waited up for me to make sure I was okay.

"Night, Adam."

7

I woke up early the next morning, and I thought about going into Crane's room to wake

Daniel up, but I thought maybe he should sleep longer.

I went downstairs instead, started the coffee, and mixed up the pancake batter. Clare

came into the kitchen, gathering up her hair into a ponytail.

"Hi!" she said, giving me a squeeze. "How was the date?"

"It was okay."

"Think you'll go out with him again?"

"I don't know," I said, and would have said more except the kitchen started filling up with people.

"We'll talk later," Clare told me, and grabbed a cup of coffee, and headed out the door, kissing

Brian on the way past. "See you after class," she called to everybody.

Everybody hollered goodbye to her, and when Hannah came into the kitchen, she

smiled at me gratefully. "Look at this. Coffee, and pancakes going. I'm going to oversleep

more often."

Breakfast was almost over when Daniel made his appearance, which brought an onslaught

of teasing down onto his head.

Insults of the word 'prince', and 'city boy' were thrown around.

Daniel shook his dark head, with hair that had grown to be on the long side. He poured

himself a cup of coffee and slid into his chair, rubbing his knuckles on Ford's head as he

passed by.

"You can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy," Daniel quipped.

"That's good, country boy," Adam told him, "cause we've got two tractors and a four-wheeler that

need to be fixed."

"Good grief," Daniel sighed.

"Nobody else just quite has the touch like you," Crane grinned.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Daniel said, reaching out to fork three pancakes onto his plate.

As everybody but Daniel was finishing up eating, I remembered that I'd planned to

pick up all those nails before Daniel got home. Then he'd thrown a surprise, and gotten

home early. I knew I needed to get it done. If I went right now, maybe nobody would

notice. I slipped out in the commotion that is McFadden mealtime, going out and

quickly catching Petra, and saddling her.

I was lost in my own thoughts, and was startled when someone gave me

a dig in the ribs from behind.

"Hey!" Daniel said.

I jumped and squealed and Daniel started laughing.

"Daniel!"

"Boy, you're jumpy!"

"You just scared me, that's all," I protested.

"Well, come help me while I work on the tractor. You can be my gopher."

"Oh," I hesitated. "I was going to go for a quick ride."

"Go later. Come on, I wanna talk to you."

"About what?" I asked, nervously thinking about those stupid nails.

Daniel gave me a funny look, like he was puzzled. "About lots of things, goofy. What's

wrong with you?"

I met his eyes, feeling the crocodile jaws of Daniel's personality closing around me. In the

almost two months he'd been gone, he definitely hadn't lost the ability to read me.

"Nothing has to be wrong, does it?" I said vaguely.

"Naw. Doesn't have to be," he said mildly. "But you're acting weird."

There was only one way to throw Daniel off the scent of my deception, and that

was to put off my nail retrieval, and do what he wanted.

"You sure know how to pay a girl a compliment," I said breezily, and started uncinching

Petra's saddle. "Okay, fine, I'll come help you."

I tried to give Daniel a jaunty grin, but there was still a glimmer of something in

his eyes. I threw myself into helping him with the tractor repairs, and listening to him talk

about Nashville I even forgot for a little while about what was looming over my head.

At one point, he said, "So what's up with this Seth kid?"

"You heard about him, huh?"

"Well, sure. The McFadden grapevine is the most efficient. You know that."

"Huh."

"So, what's up?" he asked, when I didn't say anything.

"He's just a loser. I rode home with him one day just to make Guthrie mad, and it

sort of got out of hand."

"You're not doing anything dumb like seeing him on the sly, are you?"

I hesitated, just a split second, and then I said, "No."

Daniel had noticed that second of hesitation. He put down his wrench, and

took off his ball cap, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

"You don't sound too certain of that," he said, putting his hat back on.

"I'm certain of it. I wouldn't do that, Daniel."

"That's good," he said, and went back to his tinkering with the tractor.

"He told me I was a tease," I said, after a while, into the silence.

Daniel's eyes glittered. "He did, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Did you give him a reason to say that?"

I knew exactly what Daniel was asking. Trust him to come right to the heart of a matter. No

matter how harsh it might sound.

"I don't think so," I said honestly. "I did let him think that I liked him, and that I'd go

out with him, and all of that. I never even kissed him or anything, though."

"But he thought you might be willing to kiss him at some point, right?"

"I think he might have thought that."

"Have you set him straight?"

"Yeah. I did."

"That's good."

The next comment slipped out into our conversation before I even considered it.

"He got real mad."

Daniel must have heard the tremor in my voice, because he straightened to his full height

and looked directly at me.

"He did?"

I nodded, and to my consternation, tears filled my eyes.

"Are you afraid of this guy?"

I bit my lip. I thought about lying, but there was no use in that. Daniel would be able to tell,

and anyway, it felt good to tell somebody.

"A little."

"Did he threaten you?"

"It was more Guthrie he threatened. He said he wouldn't have a problem beating Guthrie. He

said he would get even with me."

Daniel gave me a serious look. "Have you told Adam? Or anybody?"

"No."

"Why the heck not?"

"I was hoping it would blow over. I didn't want Guthrie to get into a fight about it."

"Well, I think you should let Adam know what's going on."

"Maybe so."

"Hey, how about we go get pizza tonight?" Daniel asked, changing the subject.

"Okay!" I agreed. "You mean you don't have a date tonight with somebody from Murphys that's

been missing you?" I asked slyly.

"Nope. I sure don't. Even though you dumped me last night to go out dancing-"

"Yeah, yeah." I reached up to yank his hat down over his eyes.

He resettled his hat on his head, and grinned at me.

"And hey," he said. "I get to choose what kind of pizza we order tonight."

7

thanks so much for the reviews!


	18. Peanut butter or pizza

I spent so much time with Daniel that the morning was over before I knew it, and it

was time for lunch. During lunch, Adam told me to stay inside that afternoon and help Hannah clean and

do laundry.

After everybody else had gone back outside, I went downstairs and started a load of

laundry, and then came up to find Hannah doing all the lunch dishes.

"I'll do those," I told her. "You sit and rest."

"Okay," she said, smiling at me, and sinking into a kitchen chair. "I'll take you up

on the offer. Thanks, sweetie."

"You shouldn't do any extra cleaning for tomorrow," I told her. "Kristin won't care, and with

Megan, it wouldn't make any difference what you do. It won't be good enough."

Hannah gave me a long look. "You really do dislike Megan, don't you?" she asked.

"Well," I hesitated. "Yeah, I do."

"Is there even one thing that you like about her?"

"She has really pretty hair," I said, and I could see Hannah struggling with whether

to smile at that, or scold me.

She settled for an, "Oh, Harlie."

I finished the dishes and made Hannah a cup of hot tea.

"What's next?" I asked, as I set the cup in front of her.

"Dusting and vacuuming," she said.

I sighed, and looked at the kitchen clock. I figured it would take me right at about an hour

to ride over and pick up all those nails. Maybe a little longer.

"Would you mind if I did something really quickly?" I asked her. "You sit and relax. I'll be back

to do the vacuuming. And the dusting, too."

"I don't mind."

"Okay. Thanks, Hannah. I'll hurry."

"You don't need to hurry," she said. "When I finish my tea, I'll just get started on the baking for

tomorrow."

"Okay. But no lifting, or stretching. And if you get tired, you go sit down," I told her.

"Yes, sweetie, I will. Scoot."

I went quickly to the barn, and got Petra's bridle. I went into the pasture, and whistled for her.

She looked up from her grazing long enough to look at me, and then went right back to eating.

I tried whistling again, and calling to her. When that didn't work, I started walking closer to her.

She turned her tail to me and started cantering away, just far enough to keep her distance, and

then she gave me a look and began pulling at the grass again.

Of all days for her to pull one of her stubborn acts! I bit my lip in frustration and went back

to the barn, taking an apple and some sugar cubes and going back into the pasture.

I called to Petra again, holding my hand out to show her that I had something to offer.

Like a little toddler, she came closer, whinnied at me, and then galloped away.

I turned to do an inventory of the trucks parked in the yard.

Evan's truck was gone. The Jeep was parked next to the barn,

and Guthrie's truck sat beside it. I thought briefly about taking Guthrie's truck. I knew where

he kept the spare key, tucked inside the engine hood.

I didn't think he would care all that much, although it'd be a lot better if I could ask him

about it first.

Before I could decide exactly what to do, I saw four horseback riders coming back thru

the pasture. As they got closer, I could see it was Brian, Adam, Guthrie, and Ford.

As he rode past, Brian reached out and grabbed Petra's halter, and gave her a pull

towards the barn. Petra, social horse that she is, was encouraged enough to run with

the others and cantered right up to me. I could have sworn it looked like she was smiling at me.

"Darn it, Petra!" I hissed at her.

Brian was laughing as he rode up beside me, and stopped. "Is your child misbehaving today?" he asked me.

"Yes, she's being a big pain," I said.

"Well, she is technically a teenage girl, so yeah, that makes sense," Brian said dryly.

"Not funny, Brian," I told him.

"Are you done helping Hannah?" Adam asked me, and I looked up at him, where he sat

in his saddle.

"Not totally," I said.

"What does 'not totally' mean, exactly?" he asked, not looking happy. "I asked you

to help her."

"I did. And I will. I told her I'd be right back. I just wanted to-"

When I hesitated, he frowned at me.

"You just wanted to-what?"

"Check on Petra," I said quickly, saying the first thing that came into my head. "I thought

it looked like she was limping when I was watching her out the window earlier."

"She looked like she was running fine a minute ago when you couldn't catch her," he said.

"Well, yeah," I admitted, and when my gaze swung to Guthrie, he was rolling his eyes at me.

They all dismounted, and when Brian and Adam started running their hands over Petra's sides,

looking her over, Guthrie and Ford went past, leading all four horses to the fence to be unsaddled.

"Which foot was she favoring?" Brian asked, running his hands down Petra's fetlocks.

"Umm, it looked like it was the right front one."

Brian picked up that hoof, and gave it a quick once-over. "I don't see anything," he said.

"You sure it was this one?"

"I'm pretty sure," I said.

"She seems fine," he said, and they both looked at me.

"Okay. Maybe I'll go for a quick ride," I said.

"I want you to finish helping Hannah first," Adam said.

"I'll come right back. I just want to take a really quick ride-"

Adam frowned at me so fiercely that I stopped talking.

"Harlie," he said, in a voice that I recognized as his 'last straw' voice. "I don't think I

phrased that as a question, did I?"

"No," I said, really quietly. I wondered if there would ever come a time when I wouldn't be

intimidated by Adam when he had that certain look in his eye.

"Then what are you going to do?" he asked curtly.

"Go back inside and finish the housework," I said.

After Adam gave me another look and walked away, Brian stood there, his hand resting on Petra's

flank. He didn't say anything for a minute, he just watched me, with his eyebrows wrinkled together,

like he was studying me.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked him, feeling uncomfortable.

"I smell a rat, Harlie Marie," he said, and I cringed inwardly.

"Huh?" I asked, squinting up at him.

"Your innocent routine needs some work, peach," he said, and walked away, as I felt

my face flush in embarrassment. Was I so transparent that every one of my brothers

could see thru me?

I worked the rest of the afternoon in the house, vacuuming and dusting. Clare came home

from class and helped, too, and by four o'clock the house was clean, and Hannah had

done a bunch of baking, both for that night, and for the next day's picnic.

"What should we have for supper?" Hannah asked Clare and I, with a tired sigh, as we

all sat down on the couch and chair in the living room.

"Let's have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches," Clare said.

"I don't know if we can talk all the guys into that," Hannah said, with a doubtful smile at

Clare.

"The meat and potato brigade?" I snickered. "They'll whine like a bunch of first graders."

"They can like it or lump it," Clare said, firmly, and she sounded so funny that Hannah and

I both laughed.

"Sounds like you girls are having a pretty good time in here," Brian said, as he and

Adam, Crane, Daniel and Ford came into the house.

"Oh, we are," Clare told him. "Which do you like better, darlin'? Apple or strawberry?"

"I like any kind of pie at all, babe," Brian told her, sitting down on the couch and

putting his arm around her shoulders.

"Not pie, darlin'. Jelly."

Brian looked so confused it was comical. "Jelly?"

"Yep. On your peanut butter sandwich. Which kind of jelly would you like?"

"Is that what we're having tonight for supper?" Ford asked, looking disappointed.

"If you ask real nicely, Ford, maybe you can go along with squirt and me to eat pizza tonight," Daniel

told him.

"Pizza sounds pretty darn good," Ford said.

"Count me in, too," Crane said.

"No date with the beautiful librarian?" Daniel teased him.

"Not tonight," Crane said.

"Brian says she's a real looker," Daniel said.

Clare turned her gaze onto Brian. "A real looker, huh?"

"Now, darlin'," Brian began.

Evan came stomping into the house. "What's for supper?" he demanded, and everybody

laughed.

Brian and Clare decided to join our pizza excursion, and Adam looked at Hannah, picking up

her hand and squeezing it. "You want to go too, honey?"

Hannah shook her head. "Let's just stay home. With everybody gone, we can sit

on the couch and smooch."

Adam smiled. "You always have the best ideas."

Everybody started separating to go get cleaned up. "Wait a minute," Adam told me,

and I hung back until he and Hannah and I were the only ones left in the room.

"Sit back down for a minute," Adam told me, and I sat down reluctantly on the edge of the

couch.

I figured he was going to lay into me for talking back to him earlier, and I was surprised

when he said quietly, "What's bothering you, Harlie?"

I blinked at him for a minute, perplexed. "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. What's the emergency to go for a ride earlier, but yet now you're

not in any hurry to go?"

I couldn't come up with a reasonable answer, and I didn't want to lie anymore, so I said

nothing. I just sat there, picking at my fingernails, and looking at him a little nervously.

"Not talking, huh?" he asked.

"It's not that I don't want to talk to you, Adam. Its just that-"

"Just that what?" he prompted.

He was looking at me, and he didn't look angry, just kind. Hannah looked kind and

concerned, too. "If something's bothering you, Harlie, please tell us," she encouraged.

I remembered what Daniel had said about telling Adam about Seth, and I grasped at that

straw. "I'm a little bit worried about Seth," I said.

"Why?"

"He got pretty mad at me the other day. He said I'd be sorry for everything."

"What's he mean by that?" Adam said, looking like he was riled.

"I don't know. He's kind of a mean guy."

"That kid is a real piece of work," Adam said. "Just like Guthrie said."

"Come here, sweetie," Hannah said, motioning me to her. I went and sat beside

her, and she put her arms around me.

"I told him I'd tell my brothers, and he said he could take Guthrie in a fight, and that Ford

or Evan couldn't touch him, or they'd go to jail, since he's not 18."

"What a horrible boy," Hannah said.

"He said I was a tease," I said, remembering how it felt to have Seth looming over me,

with his eyes all glittery and hard with anger.

"Adam, she's shaking," Hannah told him.

She was looking worried, and I felt bad.

"You're not supposed to get stressed about anything," I reminded her.

"I'm fine, Harlie. I'm pregnant, not disabled. If you're in trouble or need something,

then I'm perfectly able to help you." She squeezed me hard.

"Okay."

For a couple of minutes, nobody said anything. Hannah kept rubbing her hand over my arm

in a comforting way, and Adam was looking thoughtful.

"I did let him think I liked him, and that I'd go out with him, even after Guthrie told me

what he'd done to Kristin. Does that count as being a tease?"

"No," Adam said decisively.

"Of course not. You're a good girl," Hannah said.

"I let him think I'd sneak out to meet him one night," I said, all in a rush.

"What?" Adam demanded, and his eyes hardened so much that I looked away, at the floor.

"I wasn't going to do it, I told him that to trick him."

"That's a dangerous game to be playing, Harlie," Adam said, sounding stern.

"Look at me," he said, then.

I did, and he said, "Is that why he showed up here that night? Because he thought you

were going to meet him?"

I nodded, and Adam frowned so fiercely that I was glad Hannah was sitting between us.

"I don't want you to be anywhere near that boy by yourself," Hannah said.

"Yep. I agree," Adam said.

Hannah gave me another squeeze. "If you're going with Daniel and everybody to get pizza,

you'd better go change to some clean jeans."

"Okay." I stood up, and took a few steps, and then I hesitated. "Adam?"

"What?"

"I really wasn't going to sneak out to meet Seth. I promise I wasn't."

"I believe you," he said.

7

thanks for the reviews!


	19. Of your own volition

Since everybody except Adam and Hannah went to eat pizza, we took two vehicles. Some of us crowded into Ford's truck, and

the others climbed into the Jeep with Brian driving. We drove to Angels Camp, to the Pizzaria.

We made quite a group walking into the little pizza parlor. There's so many of us, and we're not the quiet type of

family, so we were pretty loud going in, too.

The pizza place is owned and run by John Green. He and his wife, Michelle, have been serving pizza to everybody

in the area for the last twenty years. Adam and Brian have always said that John was a good friend of our father,

all the way from their high school days, up to the time Daddy was killed.

We filled up two tables, and Evan and Ford pushed them together to make one big table.

When John saw us, he came over personally to say hello.

"Well, it's the McFaddens!" he said, looking pleased. "Out in full force tonight. Just missing-let's see,

Hannah and Adam, right?"

Crane and then Brian shook John's hand, and general small talk was exchanged. John spent several minutes

talking to both Ford and Daniel, asking Ford about what he was going to major in at college, and asking

Daniel what country music stars he'd met in Nashville.

He asked Guthrie where the little black-haired beauty was at that night, and I groaned. Good grief.

Was there any place in the whole county that Guthrie hadn't taken Megan to?

We ate an embarrassingly large amount of pizza, and all my brothers went thru two pitchers of beer.

When we squeezed into Ford's truck, Evan groaned and complained that his stomach hurt from eating so much pizza

and that the seat was too crowded for the four of us. He complained until I moved, and plopped down onto Daniel's lap.

"There! Happy now that you have more room?" I asked Evan.

"Ummphh," Daniel groaned. "I ate just as much as Evan did. Don't jump on my belly like that!"

It sounds kind of sappy, like something that would happen in a movie, but Ford and Daniel started singing,

and Evan and I sort of hummed along, until both of us joined in singing, too, one of John Denver's best.

'When I was a little bitty boy,

just up offa the floor,

we used to go down to Grandma's house,

every month end or so.

We'd have chicken pie,

and country ham, and homemade butter on the bread,

but the best darn thing about Grandma's house,

was the great big feather bed!'

We sang at the top of our lungs, and then we laughed until all three of them were groaning again, saying that laughing

like that was hurting their full stomachs. I leaned back against the window, sitting on Daniel's lap, and listened to the three

of them talk. They talked about Ford's classes, and Evan's last rodeo win, and Daniel said what a thrill it had been to actually

meet Waylon Jennings.

I closed my eyes, and listened, and felt such pure joy at that moment, that I wished the feeling would never end.

I felt Daniel squeeze my hand, and I squeezed back.

7

We stayed up late that night, almost all of us, until finally it was just Crane and Daniel and I still up. I was curled up

between the two of them on the couch, while they both played their guitars, and worked on the lyrics for a song that

Daniel had been working on. I drifted off to sleep a couple of times, and Crane told me,

"Why don't you go on up to bed?"

"No, Crane, let me stay up, please."

So I stayed up, listening to them talk and sing softly, in that pleasant state that a person is in when they are

so sleepy, but too comfortable to move to go to bed.

Finally, there was a shake of my shoulder, and Daniel said softly,

"Come on, squirt, time for bed."

I reached up from where I was laying on the couch to hug his neck.

"I'm scared to go to bed," I said sleepily.

"Why are you scared?"

"I'm afraid I'll wake up in the morning and you'll be gone. That you being here will have just been a dream."

Daniel chuckled a little. "I'm not a dream. I'll be here in the morning."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

"Okay," I said, and he pulled me to my feet. We walked up the stairs together, and he gave me a gentle push

into my bedroom. "Night, squirt."

I told him a sleepy 'goodnight', and went to bed, still in my jeans and t-shirt.

7

I'd set my alarm before we'd gone to eat pizza the night before, and it went off dutifully at

exactly five-thirty, just like it was supposed to. I groaned, and stretched. Five hours of sleep

wasn't nearly enough, but I forced myself up, and, since I'd slept in my clothes, I pulled my

boots on and tied a ribbon carelessly around my hair, not taking time to brush it.

I opened my door, and looked into the hallway, and then went down the stairs quietly. So

far, there was no sign of anybody else up moving around.

I glanced toward the kitchen, thinking longingly of a cup of hot, strong coffee, but I didn't

want to take the time. I had my hand on the doorknob of the front door, turning it,

and I opened the door, stepping out into the morning. I closed the door behind me quietly,

and turned to go down the stairs.

"Mornin', sugar," a voice drawled, and I jumped, startled, turning to see Adam

sitting there in the porch swing, a cup of coffee in his hand.

I pressed a hand to my chest. "Oh! Good morning. You scared me!"

"I didn't intend to."

"I know, I just didn't think anybody was up and around yet."

"Just enjoyin' the quiet."

"Oh." I hesitated, wondering how to go about completing my necessary task, with

Adam sitting right there and having a front porch view like he did.

"What are you doing up and out so early this morning?" he asked.

I cast about for a reasonable sounding excuse. One that would sound legitimate,

since sleeping in is something I really enjoy, and also something that Adam is well

aware of.

"Oh, I don't know," I said, vaguely, sounding ridiculous even to my own ears.

"Sit down here with me," he said, then, pointing to the vacant spot beside him on the

porch swing.

I sat down beside him, trying to hide my reluctance.

We sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the sunrise, while I tried to calm my racing

thoughts.

"Suppose you tell me the real reason you're out of the house so early, and trying to

avoid everybody," Adam said, then, and the way he said it, it wasn't phrased as a question,

but more of a quiet directive.

I looked at his direct gaze, and then away. "I was going for a ride," I said softly.

"And where was this ride going to take you to?"

This time I looked at him, and didn't look away.

He sounded funny. Not funny ha ha, but funny as in strange.

"What do you know, Adam?" I asked then, my heart sinking a little.

"I don't know anything specifically," he said. "Just more generally."

"Do you have super powers, or something?" I asked, with a heavy sigh.

"Nah, just years of experience."

I scrutinized him carefully, looking for signs of irritation or anger.

"If I tell you something now, will you promise to be understanding? Or at least, not kill me?"

"Well, actually, you're not telling me of your own volition. I just happened to

feel like watching the sunrise this morning. So, technically, you were caught."

My heart sank a little more, as I realized the unfortunate truth of what he was saying.

"Why don't you go ahead and tell me what it is, anyway?" he said.

"I need to ride over to the logging road," I said reluctantly.

"Want to? Or need to?"

"Need to."

"Because?"

" Because I have to pick up some nails."

Adam's brows knitted together in a puzzled frown.

"There's nails all over the road. I know, because-" I gathered my courage, and started

talking really fast, "because I put them there. The night that Seth thought I was going to

sneak out to meet him, that's where I told him to meet me at."

Adam's expression changed from puzzled to what I can only describe as ferocious.

In for a penny, in for a pound, I thought.

"It made me so upset that he hit Kristin like he did, and he never gets his comeuppance.

I did it so his tires would be ruined."

Adam didn't say anything at all. He just looked at me. Hard. I wished I could sink down into

the cracks of the porch. Then he stood up so suddenly, that I was startled, and I stepped back.

"I'll get my boots," he said, "and then we'll head over there."

I noticed for the first time then, that Adam was barefooted. I focused on him, confused.

"You're going with me?" I asked, with trepidation, and wondering why he was.

"Go wait in the Jeep," he said curtly, not answering my question, and turned to go inside, letting

the screen door slam behind him.

I went quickly to the Jeep, and climbed into the passenger seat. I bit my lip worriedly. Why was

Adam going with me? Why didn't he just yell and tell me to get over there to pick up the mess

I made?

Adam came back out, and came across the yard and driveway to the Jeep, now wearing

boots and a baseball cap.

He stopped long enough to pick up a bucket sitting beside the barn, and tossed it into the

back seat. When he started the engine, he put the Jeep in gear, and started down the driveway.

I kept sneaking glances at him. His profile looked hard, like it was set in stone.

We were at the turnoff of the logging road within a couple of minutes, and Adam parked at

the very end of the road, and I presumed that was so he wouldn't run over any of the nails.

We got out, and he gestured towards the bucket without saying anything. I reached in and

pulled it out.

"Lead the way," he told me, and I went ahead of him, to the spot I remembered that I'd

dumped out the nails. When I stopped, Adam looked down at the nails strewn across the road,

and then, silently, he started picking them up, tossing them into the bucket.

I swallowed hard, and leaned over, and started picking up, too. There was no sound for the

next fifteen to twenty minutes, except for the birds chirping in the trees, and the sound of the

nails clinking as they were tossed into the bucket. Every time that I thought we were close to

being done, I'd see another one, sticking up in the dirt. I had the fleeting thought that it looked

as though the nails had multiplied.

Finally, I couldn't see any more of them, and I looked towards Adam.

"Anywhere else?" he asked, and I realized he thought I might have dumped more nails

somewhere else on the road.

"No," I said, really quietly.

"Alright," he said, and started walking back to the end of the lane. I watched his retreating

back, and sighed, wishing I could avoid riding back to the house with him. I picked up the bucket,

and walked behind him, a lot slower, since I was carrying the bucket.

At the Jeep, he was waiting beside my door, and he took the bucket from me, lifting it into

the back. "Thank you for helping me," I said, really softly.

"Yep."

I looked up at him, with a mixture of worry and pleading.

"How mad at me are you?" I asked.

"Pretty mad," he said, looking down at my face.

"I know it was the wrong thing to do, Adam. "

"Yet you did it, anyway."

"Well, yeah. But I've been trying to get over here for days now to pick them all up. Something

kept happening to keep me from getting here."

"Sounds like an excuse to me," he said. "I gave you the perfect opportunity last night to come clean about

this, when you were talking to Hannah and me. Why didn't you speak up then?"

I hesitated. "I don't know," I admitted.

"And yesterday? When you told Brian and I that Petra was limping? Was that to throw us

off, too?"

I nodded miserably, and subsided into silence.

"I ought to put you over my knee," he said.

"Are you going to?" I asked him, with dread.

"I don't know yet," he said, and went around to his side of the Jeep, climbing in, and settling

his long legs.

I stood still where I was, trying to work back tears.

"Get in," Adam said, and I climbed up, curling one of my legs up and sitting on it.

As he backed up, back out onto the main road, Adam said quietly,

"They're going to be using this road again soon for logging. What if one of those trucks had run over

these?"

I looked at Adam in horror. "I didn't know that!"

"Would it have made a difference in you doing it?"

"Yes! I wouldn't have! I only picked this road because nobody comes down it!"

Adam gave me another look at that comment.

"Why is it your job to try to get Seth his comeuppance, as you put it?"

"It's not my job," I said, slumping back against the seat, feeling defeated.

"Right," he said, turning into our long driveway.

After he parked, we sat there, neither one of us talking for a minute. I looked over at

him.

"Kristin's supposed to come today for the picnic and everything. Can she still come?"

"You're asking me that, why?"

"I thought you might say no, because of what I did-"

"Kristin's probably looking forward to coming over, isn't she?"

"She really is. A lot."

"Then why would I say she can't come? You're the one who's going to be punished."

I swallowed hard. I was glad Kristin could still come, but I was really nervous about

what Adam was going to do.

"When do you think you might know? What my punishment is, I mean?" I asked him

tremulously.

"In a hurry, are you?" he said dryly.

I shook my head no at him.

"We'll talk about it later, after I do some thinking."

And with that comment, he got out of the Jeep.

7


	20. Picnic set to begin

Breakfast was already in progress when Adam and I went inside.

"Where have you two been?" Crane asked, and Hannah smiled at us from her end of the table.

"I hollered for you, guess you didn't hear me," Ford said, around the mouthful of bacon in his

mouth.

"We had something we had to do," Adam said shortly, and sat down at his seat at the table.

I slid into my chair, and Daniel reached around Guthrie, and forked four pancakes onto my plate.

"I don't want four," I protested.

"Pour some syrup on there," Daniel said.

Even in my own miserable mood, I noticed that Guthrie was looking a little bit subdued.

"When are you picking Megan up?" Hannah was asking him.

"Around ten."

"I can't wait to see this girl," Evan said.

"Just go easy on her, alright?" Guthrie said, looking nervous.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Evan returned.

"Just don't come on so strong that you make her feel weird."

"With my charm, and good looks? No chance of that," Evan laughed. Guthrie

didn't look amused or convinced.

"She's that good looking, huh?" Ford asked.

Guthrie hesitated. He glanced at me, and then back at his pancakes. He shrugged awkwardly.

I felt sorry for Guthrie. "She's really beautiful," I said sincerely, and Guthrie shot me a

grateful look. Before I looked down at my plate again, I saw Adam watching me, too, a

thoughtful look on his face.

"Does Megan like to ride?" Daniel was asking him.

"Naw. She's never ridden that I know of."

Lots of eyes around the table surveyed Guthrie. Since most people around our area ride horses,

someone who doesn't is sort of an anomaly. I pushed my pancakes around on my plate,

not paying much attention. I'd known that Megan had never been near a horse, so it wasn't new

information to me.

"Really? Wow." Ford was asking Guthrie.

"Yeah, really. So what?" Guthrie looked irritated.

"Nothing, little brother," Ford said, holding up a hand. "I didn't mean anything."

Everybody except Adam and I got up and started moving around, putting their plates on the counter, and talking.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Adam eating his pancakes quietly. Hannah brought the coffee pot

over and refilled his cup.

"Thanks, hon," he said.

"What's wrong?" I heard her ask him.

"I'll tell you later," Adam said, and I lost what little appetite I'd had. Now Hannah would

be all disappointed in me, too. I took my still full plate and

went to the back door, opening it and scraping off the food to Gus, who was stationed there hopefully.

He gave me a look of gratitude before he started eating, and I scratched the spot behind his ears.

When I took my plate back in, Crane was filling the sink with soapy water.

"Not eating this morning, huh?" he asked me.

"I'll make up for it later at lunchtime. Do you want some help with the dishes?"

"I'll take you up on the help. You want to wash or dry?"

"It doesn't matter," I said, with a shrug.

"Okay. You dry then."

I started drying the dishes as Crane washed them.

"When we're done here, we'll go pick Kristin up, alright?"

"Okay. Thanks, Crane."

Crane gave me a sidelong glance. "What's up with you? You're kind of down in the mouth this

morning."

I shrugged, looking towards Adam. "It's nothing," I said.

Crane caught on quickly, because he nodded, and then a few minutes later, when Adam

had set his plate on the counter, and then gone outside, Crane spoke up again.

"So what have you done to rile Adam up now?"

"Something terrible. He's ready to ship me off to boarding school."

"Huh. Well, even if he does, he'd be the first one chasing the bus down to

pull you off and bring you back home again."

"You think so?"

"I know so."

"I'm not so sure about that," I said glumly, putting another plate away in the kitchen cabinet. "I think

he'd be glad to get rid of me for awhile if he could."

"Harlie-" Crane began, only to be interrupted by Evan and Daniel coming back into the kitchen.

They started talking to Crane about something about one of the goats, and then Hannah came

in again, too.

"Daniel, how about a haircut this morning?" Hannah asked. "I can do it for you."

"Yeah, Daniel," Evan spoke up. "People around Murphys are going to think you're trying to

join one of those heavy metal rock bands with your hair long like that."

Daniel turned to face Evan, his eyes narrowing. "Is that right?" he asked, in a tone that

suggested Evan should shut up.

"Yeah," Evan continued, with a grin. "Like KISS, maybe. Or Van Halen."

Daniel made a grab for Evan, who dodged him, holding up a hand. "Temper, temper," Evan told

him.

"Come here and I'll show you temper," Daniel growled, and they started scuffling, Daniel grabbing

Evan, and hooking an arm around his waist. Daniel rubbed his knuckles over the top of Evan's head.

"Owww," Evan was hollering.

Hannah sidestepped their boisterous antics. "I have a lot of things to do. Daniel Ryan McFadden, I'm getting

the hair clippers. Come out on the porch."

"Yes, ma'm," Daniel said, letting loose of Evan.

Crane was chuckling as they all left the kitchen, and dried his hands on the towel I was holding.

"Ready to go?" he asked me.

I nodded. "I'll call and tell Kristin we're on the way."

After I'd done that I followed him out, and we went past Hannah and Daniel on the porch.

"We'll be back," Crane said.

"I may not have any hair when you get back," Daniel moaned.

"Hush up, or I'll clip you bald," Hannah warned him.

We were climbing into the Jeep when Adam walked by.

"We're going to pick Kristin up," Crane told him.

Adam nodded. "Alright."

Crane and I drove in silence for a few minutes. He pulled a tin of peppermints out of his

shirt pocket, and popped it open with one hand, holding it out to offer me one.

I took one and put it in my mouth. "Thanks for offering to pick Kristin up," I told him.

"No problem," he said, putting the tin back into his pocket. How are things going for her at home lately?"

"About the same, I guess. Not so good."

"That's too bad," Crane said.

"Kristin thinks you're really nice," I told him.

"Well. I am nice," he said, with a crooked smile, and winked at me.

"Yes. You are," I said soberly, without a smile.

Crane turned serious. "Hey, now," he said. "Let's talk about what you said earlier."

I leaned up to turn on the Jeep radio, which hardly ever works correctly. Today was the

exception. Merle Haggard was coming in loud and clear. I turned up the volume.

"What did I say earlier?" I asked.

"Turn that off for a minute," Crane told me.

"Crane..." I protested.

"Come on," he said, and I sighed, and turned the radio back off again, looking at him expectantly.

"Why are you saying you think Adam would like to get rid of you for awhile?"

"It's nothing."

"It's not nothing, for you to say something like that."

I hesitated. "He's just so mad at me."

"Adam's been mad plenty of times. As far as I know he's never even considered shipping

any of you babies away."

"Well, I think I might be the dealbreaker."

"No, Harlie," Crane said firmly.

I looked at Crane's kind face for a long moment. "Alright. I'll tell you then."

"I'm ready."

So, I told him then, about what I'd done.

Crane didn't say anything for a few minutes, or interrupt me. He let me ramble on, and he stayed quiet,

looking serious, but not angry.

When I was finished explaining, he sighed, and said, "Well. You already know it was wrong, and

a dumb thing to do, to boot. Right?"

"Right."

"You could have told somebody, you know. Adam, maybe."

I gave him a look that suggested he was crazy, and he sighed again.

"Okay. Daniel, then. Or me."

"I know. I should have. I had enough opportunity to tell you both. I did tell Clare, but I asked

her not to say anything yet."

"That wasn't a very fair position to put Clare in, Harlie."

"I know." I sighed.

As we entered Murphys, I said softly, "Adam says he has to think about how he's going to

punish me."

"Huh."

"Crane?" I began.

"Don't ask me to intervene, Harlie. You know Adam and Brian and I don't undermine each other when it

comes to you and Guthrie."

I did know that. I subsided into silence.

"No matter what, Adam would never want to be rid of you, peanut. Not ever. You know that," Crane

told me. "I don't want you thinking things like that."

I was saved from having to answer because we were pulling into the trailer park, and I could see

Kristin sitting on her porch steps, waiting for us. She jumped up and walked towards us, carrying a

plastic sack.

Crane slowed the Jeep to a stop.

"Hi!" she greeted us, smiling at me, and then at Crane.

"Hi, Kristin," I said.

"Hi, Kris-10," Crane said.

"Hi, Crane!"

"Ready to go?" he asked, and Kristin nodded.

"Well, get in, then. Let's get moving," Crane told her.

Kristin climbed into the back seat.

"What's in the bag?" I asked her.

"My swimsuit. And some banana bread I made."

"Smells good," Crane told her, and we started for the ranch. I felt a little better after talking to

Crane. The sun was shining, and I got to spend the day with my best friend. I pushed worry about

my trouble with Adam out of my mind, and smiled when I thought of Megan, her delicate little feet

covered in creek mud.

7777777

When we got to the house, Guthrie was coming out, headed to get Megan, I assumed.

"Hi, Kristin," he said, with a smile.

"Hi, Guthrie."

"What do you have there?" he asked, pointing to the sack she carried.

"Just some banana bread."

"Your mom make it?"

"No. I did."

"Well, maybe I'll be brave and try some at the picnic," Guthrie joked.

Kristin smiled at him sweetly. "Okay."

We went inside and Kristin said hi to everybody. I dragged her into the kitchen to meet

Daniel. After I'd introduced them, Daniel grinned at her.

"Nice to meet you, Miss Kristin," he said.

"It's nice to meet you, too," Kristin said.

"You're not bald," I told Daniel.

Daniel rubbed his much shorter hair. "Not bald, but my head feels a lot colder now."

"You were starting to look like a hippie," Brian said. "Hi, Kristin."

"Hi, Brian."

"Technically, Bri, I don't think there are any more hippies," Ford spoke up.

"Technically, Ford," Brian said, grabbing Ford by the back of the neck playfully. "Mind your

own business."

Kristin giggled. "I sure have missed all of you," she said.

We all, as a group, headed to the creek shortly after that, except for Guthrie and Megan,

who hadn't arrived yet. Adam drove the Jeep, with Hannah

riding beside him, and toting all the food we were taking.

The rest of us walked to the creek, and halfway there, with a little coaxing, Ford and Daniel

gave Kristin and I piggy back rides.

"Uuggg," Daniel groaned, pretending to stagger under my weight. "Maybe I shouldn't have given

you those four pancakes after all, squirt!"

At the creek, Adam spread a blanket on the ground, and eased Hannah down onto it. It seemed

like Hannah was getting bigger every day. Not that I would ever say such a thing to her.

"Are we going to swim before lunch?" Kristin asked me.

"Let's wait for Guthrie to get here. I want to see everybody's reaction to meeting Megan," I whispered

to her.

We didn't have to wait for long. Guthrie's truck was coming thru the field. Brian and Crane

stood watching.

"He going to drive all the way down here?" Crane wondered out loud.

"Looks like it," Brian said, in disapproval.

"Guthrie treats that truck like a baby," Evan chipped in. "I'm surprised he's driving it

thru here."

"Why didn't he just walk?" Daniel asked, of nobody in particular.

Kristin and I exchanged a look. I knew, and so did she, that there was no way that

Megan would have walked all the way from the house to the creek, thru all those weeds

and tall grass. I would have, at one time, contributed that fact, but this time I kept my

mouth shut.

Guthrie parked, and then held the door open while Megan slid out. She was dressed in

an outfit that Hannah and my brothers would never have allowed me to leave the house in.

It was a little terry-cloth outfit, little being the key word. The shirt was a midriff barer, and

the shorts went a step shorter than Daisy Dukes.

I heard Evan utter a low whistle, and Ford said, "Holy smokes," sort of quietly.

I looked at Hannah and her eyes were sort of wide. I knew what she was thinking. I

mean, this was a picnic and casual and all, but this wasn't the sort of outfit that a

girl would usually wear to meet her boyfriend's family. At least not a girl that was trying

to make a good impression.

I nudged Kristin in the ribs with my elbow, and we exchanged a look of disgust.

When Guthrie walked up to all of us, Megan had her hand wrapped around his arm.

Guthrie began the introductions. Hannah reached up from where she sat on the blanket

to shake Megan's hand. Hannah had lost her wide-eyed surprised look, and she offered

Megan a sincere smile.

"We're glad you could come today," she was telling Megan.

"I'm just so excited to meet Guthrie's family," Megan was saying, in her syrupy

Southern drawl. "There's just so many of you! I don't know how in the world I'm going

to keep ya'll straight."

Inwardly, I bristled at that, but Hannah just nodded. "It's a big bunch, alright."

When Guthrie introduced Megan to Clare, that was more interesting.

"Guthrie says you're from the city. Before you got married."

"From Modesto. That's right," Clare answered.

"And you left the city voluntarily? To move to this one-horse town? I can't imagine, I mean,

I never would have come here if I'd a choice in the matter."

"Well, I fell in love," Clare said, matter of factly. "And I found out I like one-horse

towns."

"Not me," Megan said. "I'm never going to end up in a town this size."

"There's some awfully nice people in Murphys," Clare said then.

Megan gave a slight shrug, and one of her fake smiles. When Clare turned my way

she gave me a wink that told me she had Megan figured out.

We went ahead and sat down on the grass to eat lunch shortly after that, and

everybody dug into the fried chicken and potato chips, the fruit and the cookies.

Kristin shared her banana bread, and when Guthrie had finished his piece, he

grinned at her. "Not bad at all," he said.

"Thanks," Kristin said, smiling back at him.

Megan watched the exchange between them with a frown.

"I don't eat sweets," she said, looking directly at Kristin and I. "It's really best

if girls avoid them as much as possible. It's bad for your skin. And it's hard to

control your weight if you eat too much of them."

"That's what I've heard," I said dryly, taking another big bite of chocolate chip cookie.

Guthrie looked embarrassed. "Well, since Harlie or Kristin neither one are fat, I

guess they can eat what they want, then."

I was a little surprised that Guthrie had spoken up like that. But I was glad. And a

little proud, too. It showed he hadn't completely knuckled under to Megan's strong

personality.

Megan looked disgruntled at Guthrie's comment, and I was ready to separate from

her. "Let's swim," I told Kristin, and we went to the water, stripping down to our swimming

suits under our clothes.

Eventually everybody was in the water, except for Hannah, who was sitting and dangling her feet

in the water, and Megan and Guthrie, sitting on the bank.

Evan and Daniel and even Brian kept yelling for Guthrie to get in. He shook his head a

few times, and then I saw him talking to Megan. It looked as though he was trying to convince

her to get in. Finally, she must have agreed, because she stepped out of her shorts and shirt to

reveal a miniscule bikini. It didn't look like the sort of suit that should be worn in dirty

creek water.

"Wow," Kristin muttered.

"Yeah, this should be good," I whispered back.


End file.
